


Plus One

by the_og_straya



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel
Genre: And a little bit of angst, Aunt Natasha Romanov, BAMF Natasha Romanov, Baby, Baby Shower, Birth, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Boys In Love, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Bucky’s having a baby boy, Canon-Typical Violence, Cesarean Section, Children, Cravings, Crying, Dancing, Diapers, Dino Nuggets, Dorks in Love, Emotions, Engagement, Fluff, Food, Games, Gay Steve Rogers, Gifts, Grocery Store, Guns, How Do I Tag, Hydra Agent - Freeform, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I think I’ve officially overtagged, I work with kids I should know this, Kids, Kissing, M/M, Morning Sickness, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Natasha is a sweetheart, Natasha is their godmother, No Smut, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Test, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Soft Bucky Barnes, Soft Love, Soft Natasha Romanov, Surgery, Talking, Toys, True Love, Uncle Clint Barton, Vomiting, Walking, Wedding, Wedding Rings, What else does a baby do?, but not even, contractions, i still don’t know how to tag, ia that a tag?, is that even a tag?, is this enough tags yet?, literally so much fluff, more to come - Freeform, no beta we die like men, non-con surgery, seriously how do you tag, seriously so much fluff, seriously someone help me tag, soft steve rogers, that’s not a tag but it should be, uncle bruce banner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21958216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_og_straya/pseuds/the_og_straya
Summary: This is NOT my usual fic but I was inspired and I can’t say no to Muse. 🤷🏽♀️ Merry Christmas or Happy Saturnalia or whatever you celebrate, and I hope you like it!!
Relationships: Bruce Banner & James "Bucky" Barnes, Bruce Banner & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Helen Cho, James "Bucky" Barnes & Kobik, James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov & Kobik, Steve Rogers & Kobik, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 238
Kudos: 109





	1. Pregnancy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fakeaccunt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakeaccunt/gifts).



> WARNING: Mentions of vomiting and non-con surgery because Hydra sucks. No Buckys were harmed in the making of this fic, though I can’t say the same for any Buckys before this fic came into play.
> 
> Also... I still can’t title. Sue me. But if you have any ideas for better titles, let me know! Please!! I’ll publicly thank you. I just.... I can’t title.

In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the eggs.

All Bucky knew was one second he was asleep, the next he was bent over a toilet bowl. He felt strangely off-balance too, but throwing up for no good reason would do that to you.

He made sure he wasn’t going to heave again, brushed his teeth, and walked out into the kitchen to find Steve making an omelette. “Hey, babe,” he said, going for a smile. He’s pretty sure he failed and was glad Steve barely turned to look at him.

“Hey, Buck. Food’ll be ready in a couple minutes. Make me a coffee?”

“Of course.” He brushed his fingers across the small of Steve’s back as he passed, giving a small smile when Steve twitched.

“Hey, watch it, mister,” Steve admonished, but the smile shone through, clear as day. “I have a spatula and I’m not afraid to use it.” To demonstrate, he pointed the spatula in Bucky’s direction. Buckywatched as a clump of egg slid off the spatula and splattered on the ground.

A pause, then, “Dammit.” Bucky just laughed as Steve grabbed some paper towels to mop it up.

“I love you,” he said suddenly, gently, then grinned at the blond. “Eggy floors and all.”

Steve groaned, but returned the smile. “I love you too.”

* * *

The next morning was French toast, and what possessed Steve to make such elaborate breakfasts, Bucky really had no idea. He’d be happy enough with a bowl of cereal.

Not now, of course, because now Bucky currently had his head stuck in the toilet bowl again. He thanked whatever god was out there looking over him that Steve was playing music loud enough to not hear Bucky. He was _fine,_ he was _dealing,_ and he didn’t need Steve mother henning him. He didn’t.

Except... he _wanted_ Steve to mother hen him.

More accurately, he wanted Steve to wrap him up in a big hug and never let go.

After hating life for a couple more minutes, Bucky decided he wanted Steve hugs more than he hated life, so he got up.

The problem was, the French toast actually did smell really good. Bucky just wasn’t too sure about it after the way he’d awakened the past couple of days.

He walked quietly into the kitchen and moved to beside Steve, where he knew the blond would see him. “Hey, Buck,” Steve smiled, pausing the music. “How’d you sleep?”

Bucky just hummed and brushed his hair out of his face, tucking it behind his ear. “Let me know when you get to a stopping place,” he asked quietly, and Steve looked at him, turned off the gas, and fully faced him.

Bucky could’ve cried at how much he loved this man.

Instead, he walked straight into him, arms wrapping around his waist, already relaxing. “You alright?”

He sighed, but didn’t move. “Honestly?” Here came the tears, and he tried, but he couldn’t hold them back. “I don’t know.” He sniffed, “I guess not.”

Steve just hummed and held him, even his chin lowering to rest on Bucky’s shoulder, securing him. “That’s okay. Anything I can do to help?” Bucky shrugged miserably, fairly certain any words would end up with him blubbering at this point. “Okay. Wanna move to the couch?”

He didn’t want to move in general, but suddenly the couch seemed like the greatest idea in the world, so he nodded, tensing when Steve made to pull away. “Hey, it’s alright. Not letting go, just moving. Okay, honey?”

Bucky knee he was being irrational. He also knew he didn’t really care.

Unfortunately, he also knew he needed to tell Steve what was happening.

After a couple of minutes, the tears slowed with no sign of picking back up. He sighed but stayed where he was, leaning on Steve, gathering strength, ultimately deciding to speak. “Can I be completely honest with you for a minute? Without you interrupting,” he added when Steve shifted. The blond huffed out a laugh and pulled him tighter, silently urging him on. “I’m scared. And I don’t know why.” He sighed again. “This morning and yesterday morning... before breakfast. I threw up. And I’ve been sleeping well, you know I have, I haven’t had a nightmare since last week. I don’t want to be regressing and I’m scared that’s what it is. I don’t want to have to relearn how to eat. I don’t know if I can do it.”

Steve stiffened slightly, and Bucky knew he was thinking about way-back-when, when Bucky had first come back. It wasn’t pretty; Hydra had been feeding him exclusively through IV and liquids. Being reintroduced to solids meant he spent a lot of time hanging over the porcelain throne. He hated every second of it, especially when it meant another IV drip immediately after. He wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Well... that wasn’t completely true. He’d wish it on Hydra.

Steve shifted, bringing him back, and said, “I don’t think we have to worry about that. That was after you ate, remember? This is before. And it’s just in the mornings, right?”

Bucky sighed, relaxing. “Right.” Of course he was; Steve was thinking logically about this.

“Okay.” He punctuated the word by dragging his hand, palm flat, down the line of Bucky’s spine. “I’d say let’s give it one more day. If it happens again tomorrow, we’ll go see Bruce. Alright?”

“M’kay.”

“Hey.” Steve lifted his face and smiled at him. “I love you.”

Bucky couldn’t help the smile. “I love you, too.”

Steve pulled him into a chaste kiss, and Bucky tucked his face into Steve’s neck after, finding solace in the fact that he wasn’t alone anymore.

* * *

Day three saw Bucky throwing up again, with one noticeable difference; Steve was there. He’d purposely waited to start breakfast until Bucky had awakened. Since the first thing Bucky had done was run to the bathroom, Steve practically had no choice but to follow.

So there they both were, crouched in the bathroom. Steve had one steadying hand on Bucky’s back, the other on his forehead, keeping his hair held back. He kept murmuring that it would be alright, that they’d figure it out, and Bucky wanted to believe him, but he’d just spent three days puking. He was at his limit.

“We’ll figure it out, Buck. We’ll talk to Bruce. He’ll know what to do.”

Bucky finished rinsing his mouth and avoided glaring at Steve in the mirror. “How do you know?” He was sick of it, sick of being sick, of not knowing why he was sick, and it showed in his voice. “How can you be so sure? We’ve been through a lot.” He huffed out an ironic laugh. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was Fate finally screwing me over.”

“Buck-”

“ _No,_ Steve.” He didn’t mean to snap, he really didn’t, but he hadn’t realized until he did how angry he was, and then he almost couldn’t help it. “Admit it. You’re just as lost and scared and confused as I am. And you’ve got no clue if Bruce can actually help. You can have all the hope in the world but that won’t do a damn if Bruce can’t help.”

“What would admitting it help?” He asked softly. “Maybe there is nothing to do. But maybe there is. And I’m not losing hope until we’ve exhausted all our options.”

Bucky growled and tore himself away, pacing out into the room and around as Steve watched. “It means I’m not alone,” he whispered, facing away from Steve. He had frozen the second he realized it. “I’m scared and I’m tired and I don’t know what’s going on. And you come in and you say everything’s going to be fine, except _you don’t know that._ ” He took a shaky breath. “You have no idea.”

“You’re right,” Steve said softly, drawing closer, giving Bucky all the time in the world to move away. He didn’t. “I don’t have any idea. But I have hope, and I’m keeping that hope until it’s been proven beyond proof that there’s no more hope. I’ll always hope, because I’ll always believe we’re staying together. I’m not giving you up, not for anything. You got me?”

Bucky sighed, tucking his head on Steve’s shoulder. “I got you.”

“Good.” Steve pressed a small kiss to the top of Bucky’s head before pulling away slightly. “Let’s go see Bruce.”

* * *

“Hello,” the doctor smiled as they walked in. “What brings you to visit me today?”

“Dr. Banner,” Steve smiled warmly, grabbing Bucky’s hand and squeezing it slightly. “He’s having a little bit of trouble recently.”

Bruce frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. What’s going on?”

Bucky told him everything he could think of, including the apparent mood swings, and Bruce nodded. “I may have an idea, but I’ll need to run some tests first.” He looked rather embarrassed. “I’ll need to get a urine sample.”

“Not a problem,” Bucky quietly assured him. “Thank you for helping.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he warned. “Wait until after I’ve got the official diagnosis.” He handed Bucky a small cup and told them, “After I get this back, it’ll be a couple of hours until I have the results. I can have JARVIS bring you down when they’re ready.”

“We’d really appreciate that,” Steve said. “Thank you, Bruce.”

“Like i said before, don’t thank me yet.” He turned to Bucky, “Follow the instructions on the cup. There’s a bathroom right through there if you need it.” He pointed behind him, and Bucky nodded, squeezed Steve’s hand, and walked off.

“Steve,” Bruce started when they were alone. “How do you feel about kids?” He chuckled at Steve’s look. “I know, random. I promise I’m getting somewhere.”

Steve took a breath, “To be honest, I could go either way. Growing up, it was just me and my ma, but I was over at Bucky’s enough to know what having a big family is like. There wasn’t hardly room to sneeze in peace. I don’t see the privacy being much of a problem now, but I can realize there are pros and cons to either.”

Bruce nodded thoughtfully. “I’ve got a little niece. Cutest thing in the world, and all she wants to play with are those little science kits from the store.” He grinned. “I can’t have kids, but I love them. Sometimes more from a distance than up close, but I’ve helped my sister enough to know what it’s like all throughout their lives. It’s an experience, one I’d love to have, but our job also doesn’t lend itself to safety. It’s a lot to think about, you know?”

“Exactly,” Steve nodded, smiling past him as Bucky walked back. “I bet it’d be worth it, though.”

“That it is,” Bruce said, accepting the cup from Bucky. “Thank you. I’ll have the results ready as soon as I can.” He stopped the brunet with a hand on his arm. “If I’m correct, I may need to run more tests.”

“Whatever you need,” Bucky promised. “I want to get this figured out.”

Bruce looked like he wanted to say something else, but hesitated and instead smiled at them before turning away.

Bucky grabbed Steve’s hand once more as they walked off. “What were you two talking about?”

Steve chuckled. “Bruce was asking me how I felt about kids. I told him what I told you back in Brooklyn, that it could go either way.”

Bucky frowned slightly. “I don’t fully remember. Because your ma, right? And my family?”

“Exactly,” Steve nodded. “Do you still feel the same?”

Bucky chuckled, “I remember even less of what I said, so I’m not sure anymore. I like kids, I like the idea of them, and maybe one day I’d like to have one, but that depends on if we’re still doing what we’re doing. It’s a dangerous job and there’s no guarantees our kid will keep both their parents.”

“I know,” Steve said. “What would you do if you had a kid right now?”

“Honestly?” Bucky blew out a breath as he thought. “I’m not sure. I know you need to keep fighting, it’s part of who you are, and keeping you home would do nothing but upset you. I couldn’t do that to you. But I’d probably stay home with them, at least until they’re old enough to hire some sort of babysitter, and even then I’d only go on small missions that I knew we’d come back from.”

Steve nodded thoughtfully. “Buck, you know I’d stay home with you if you wanted.”

“I know,” Bucky said warmly. “But you’re an idiot if you think you could ever be fulfilled by it. I know you, I know how you work, and you need to be out there. I wouldn’t ever deny that to you.”

Steve sighed, but he was smiling. “Sometimes I hate when you’re right.”

“You really don’t.”

“No,” he agreed easily, leaning in for a kiss. “I don’t.”

“And you know what,” Bucky said when they pulled back, “I have another idea of what fulfills you.”

The smile and the look in his eyes told Steve exactly what Bucky meant, and he grinned. “I think I might like when you’re right.” He pulled Bucky close again, and they were lost in each other.

* * *

“Gentleman,” JARVIS intoned. “Terribly sorry to interrupt your nap, but Dr. Banner has finished running his tests.”

Bucky mumbled, turning back over to snuggle into Steve, who awakened at JARVIS’s voice.

“Buck,” he mumbled, pushing slightly. “C’mon. Let’s go see what Bruce found.”

“Five more minutes,” Bucky said, incredibly muffled in Steve’s shoulder. He couldn’t help his smile as he pressed Bucky’s hair down.

“Alright. Five more minutes. J?”

“I will remind you again in five minutes.”

“Thank you.”

The five minutes were unnecessary; Steve spent it watching Bucky. When JARVIS reminded them again, he sighed and got up, pulling pants on as he called Bucky. “C’mon, Buck, it’s been five more minutes. Time to go see what Bruce found. We don’t want to keep him waiting.”

Bucky grumbled but ultimately got up, glaring at Steve, who just smirked at him. “Hey, you started it. I can’t help if you’re a horrible nap monster after.” He chuckled as Bucky glared harder. “Alright, alright. Here, get dressed.” He tossed Bucky’s pants over as he pulled on his shirt.

“I hate you.” He was cut off by a yawn, and Steve just laughed.

“I love you, too.” He smiled cheekily when Bucky glared at him again.

He pulled on his pants and gestured for his shirt. “Shut up. I need more coffee.”

“I may have to advise against that,” JARVIS cut in.

They looked at each other, silently agreeing to hurry. They grabbed for each other’s hands as they walked to the elevator, Steve squeezing slightly to alleviate any stress. “It’ll be okay,” he murmured. “Whatever it is.”

Bucky took a breath and leaned into him. “We’ve got this.”

“Exactly.” He kissed the top of Bucky’s head as the elevator dinged open.

“Hello again,” Bruce smiled as they walked in. “I got the results back. I know you share everything with each other, so I’m not saying you can’t, but I’m saying this is something Bucky needs to tell you.” He focused on Steve. “Give us five minutes, okay?”

Steve frowned, but turned to Bucky and kissed his forehead. “I’ll be right outside.”

“Fucker,” Bucky muttered back. “You can hear from right outside. Go get a drink.”

Steve just smiled at him before he walked out.

“Well?” Bucky asked, turning to Bruce.

He looked almost nervous. “You might want to sit down. This may seem incredibly invasive, and I apologize, but are you trans?”

Bucky blinked at him. “I- no. I’m not.” He thought for a second, “Hydra did perform some surgeries on me, though, and I’m not sure that all of them were to help me, for whatever definition of help they had, if that makes sense.”

Bruce nodded, “Plenty. That clears things up a lot, actually, and I’ll have to do a few more tests, preferably run some scans to see how this’ll work, but...” he paused and took another breath, “you’re pregnant.”

Bucky blinked again. Then twice more. “I’m pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“Me. A man.”

“Yes. Like I said, I’ll need to run a few more tests, figure out how it’s possible, but yes, you’re pregnant.” He smiled slightly. “See now why Steve had to wait outside?”

“Oh my god,” Bucky whispered. “We’re gonna be _dads._ ”

Bruce smiled politely. “Would you like to tell him? He can come in while we run more tests.”

Bucky nodded, still in shock, and stood to go look for Steve.

It was easy to find him; he hadn’t gone far. Between one breath and the next he was right there, pulling Bucky closer. “Hey, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Is it time for me to worry?”

Bucky shook his head, then pressed his face into Steve’s shoulder. “Oh my god.”

A hand ghosted over his back. “You’re making me nervous, Buck. What’s going on?”

He pulled back and pulled Steve down into a kiss, leaning their foreheads together after. “I don’t know how this is possible, Bruce doesn’t know how it’s possible, but our best guess is it’s something Hydra did to me, a surgery they performed on me.” He took a deep breath and stepped away, holding Steve at arm’s length. “I’m pregnant.”

Steve blinked and very carefully kept his expression neutral. “You’re shitting me.”

Bucky shook his head, biting his lip. A smile began to grow on Steve’s face. “We’re gonna be _dads._ ”

“That’s what I said,” Bucky chuckled. “Bruce wants to run a few more tests, do some scans, but he said you could be there for that part.”

“As if I’d let him do it without me there,” Steve said seriously, pulling him closer. “How do you feel about it?”

“Honestly?” Bucky’s smile widened. “I already love them. Is that stupid? I don’t really care either way. They’re mine—ours—and I’ll be damned if I wouldn’t give them the world.”

“I know how you feel,” Steve responded. “Because I feel the same way, both for you and for our kid.”

Bucky smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”


	2. Birth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the long-awaited sequel!
> 
> *fake laugh* I wish.
> 
> Anyways! I know I said 2 parts but Muse said no, so you get three parts. 🤷🏽♀️
> 
> Also, yes. Kobik is based on the Kobik from the comics. In that ‘verse, Kobik means “cubic” (she came from the Tesseract, after all) but after some research I found Kobik also means “evoking self-reliance, willpower and responsibility.” Make of that what you will; I chose it solely based on the comics, though.

Bucky didn’t know how it was possible, but he loved his unborn child more than anything on the planet. Steve assured him he understood, but Bucky was skeptical. He wasn’t feeling what Bucky was.

It was completely possible at times, however; Steve wasn’t the one awakened by morning sickness, a kick, or a squished bladder.

Bucky kind of hated being pregnant most of the time.

He was also aware that at a later time—no longer two in the morning—his feelings towards pregnancy might completely flip.

Hormones. They sucked.

Especially since Hydra couldn’t give him the glands or whatever it was needed to make estrogen. He had to get it in a _shot._ He was filled with enough anger to level a small country.

He was also extremely tired.

He chose sleep and, by extension, Steve. As soon as he laid down again, Steve gave an inquisitive noise. “Just had to go to the bathroom,” Bucky assured him. “Go back to sleep.”

Steve gave another sleep-soft noise and carefully pulled Bucky close. Bucky sighed in contentment and drifted off to sleep.

He awakened some time later with the distinct feeling that something was _wrong._ He grabbed for Steve’s arm as the next wave of pain hit and gasped through it.

Steve’s arm wasn’t where it should be.

 _Steve_ wasn’t where he should be.

Bucky gasped through the pain once more and, drained after the pain receded, laid back and gave Steve a minute to come back from where ever he was.

Except... he didn’t come back.

Bucku grumbled about it, the grumbling turning into a strangled gasp when the pain returned. As he panted when the pain ceased once again, he made up his mind. “Steve?”

No answer.

“Steve?” Louder this time.

Still no answer, but he thought he heard something. Bucky groaned and directed his attention toward the ceiling. “J? Where’s Steve?”

“Captain Rogers has just returned to your floor and is in the kitchen. Shall I fetch him for you?”

“Please.”

He shut his eyes, taking purposely deep breaths, and didn’t hear when Steve entered. He opened his eyes when he heard his name. “Buck?” Steve was looking at him with fondness and worry, and Bucky couldn’t help the smile.

“Hi, baby.”

“Hey.” Some of the worry slipped off his face, and he came closer to take Bucky’s hand. “What’s going on?”

Bucky hummed, “I think contractions.”

Steve stiffened. He could feel it in the grip he had on his fingers, and more so, he could see it. “Contractions?”

Bucky huffed a slight laugh. “Well, It’s been nine months. I can’t say it’s all that surprising.”

“Right,” Steve agreed, shaking himself. “Sorry, just.... I guess I’ll grab the bag and we’ll go visit Bruce?”

“Let’s call him first,” Bucky suggested. “Remember, he and the books said there’s nothing to do if the contractions are more than ten minutes apart.”

“Yeah, and how far apart are they?”

Bucky blinked. “JARVIS?”

“Your contractions seem to be six minutes apart.”

Bucky blinked again. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, giving him a soft smile. “Still want to call Bruce?”

Bucky smiled weakly, “I don’t want to move if I don’t have to.”

Steve smoothed the hair back from Bucky’s forehead before dropping a kiss. “Of course we can. JARVIS?”

“Connecting you now, sir.”

In just a couple seconds, Bruce answered. “Steve, Bucky. How’s everything going?”

“Going good,” Steve said mildly, looking at Bucky first. “Bucky’s contractions started and they’re six minutes apart. We wanted to see if we should head down there or wait a bit first.”

They heard a muffled thump and curse, and looked at each other warily. “Yes, definitely come down!” He let out a long breath. “It’s highly likely I’ll have to perform a c-section. Your body isn’t made to give birth, Bucky, no matter how much it thinks it’s supposed to. I’m sorry, I didn’t think of it until I was going over the MRIs just now.”

Bucky grabbed Steve’s hand, praying his voice was steady. “That’s fine. Thanks for letting me know. I guess we’ll see you in a minute.”

“I’ll be ready.” With that, the call cut off, and Bucky let out a breath, squeezing Steve’s hand slightly.

“Hey, baby,” Steve said softly, trailing a hand down the side of Bucky’s face, cupping his cheek. “We can do this, okay? I know it’s scary and you don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ll be there the entire time, okay?”

“I know,” Bucky nodded, closing his eyes and letting out another breath. “God, I hate hormones.”

Steve chuckled good-naturedly. “I don’t know that anyone likes them. Think you can get up?”

“No,” Bucky grumbled. “My ankles are swollen and everything hurts and... shit.” The last part was said quietly, and he roughly wiped at the tears collecting on his face. “Steve, why am I such a mess?”

Steve hushed him and gently wiped the tears away, ignoring the new ones in favor of bending to kiss Bucky’s cheek. “You’re not a mess, baby. You’re pregnant. But pretty soon here you won’t be pregnant anymore. Doesn’t that sound nice? We’ve just gotta go see Bruce for a little bit, okay?”

“Fucker,” Bucky muttered, but his breathing was evening out again. “I know what’s waiting at Bruce’s.”

“I never said you didn’t,” Steve placated. “C’mon, babe. We’ve gotta go. We don’t want to keep him waiting. Look, your slippers are right here. Something comfy to walk on, yeah?”

“Nothing’s comfy,” Bucky huffed, but struggled up anyways. Steve rewarded him with a smile and a kiss, this time on the lips.

“One step at a time, Buck. We’re almost there.”

Bucky groaned as he walked, though _waddled_ would be a better word for it. He gasped as the pain hit him again. “ _Scheisse!_ ”

He knew he was squeezing Steve’s hand too tightly and tried to ease up, but Steve folded his own fingers over Bucky’s. “Deep breaths, Buck, c’mon. We practiced this, remember? Deep breaths. Breathe through it.”

Eventually the pain receded once again, and Bucky was left gasping in the absence of it. “I hate that.”

“I know, babe.” Steve wrapped an arm around him and kissed his forehead. “C’mon, just a few more steps to the elevator, then Bruce has a wheelchair for us once we get to his floor. Do you want me to carry you?”

Bucky hummed as he leaned his forehead against Steve’s shoulder, allowing his eyes to fall shut. “Just to the elevator.”

Steve chuckled and brought his free arm under Bucky’s knees, lifting gently and smoothly. “Whatever you want, Buck.”

He hummed and pressed his cheek against Steve’s shoulder. “I love you. Thank you for being so calm about all of this.”

“It’s been my absolute pleasure, Buck, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“Not even for Carter?” He wasn’t that bitter, he really wasn’t, and he didn’t know why he even mentioned her beyond blaming it on pregnancy brain. “Sorry,” he offered, half-hearted and late as Steve stiffened.

“No, Buck, I need you to listen, okay? Yes, I loved Peggy, but she was never the love of my life. That was always you. I don’t regret the time I spent with her, only wish I’d opened my eyes to see you earlier. You are, and always have been, my one and only, got it? I love you more than I know to express.”

“I love you too,” Bucky whispered, silently cursing the tears once more.

Steve stepped into the elevator, and as they descended, Bucky struggled. “Okay, I’m good. I can walk.”

“I don’t mind carrying you, Buck.”

He offered Steve a sheepish smile. “I mind being carried.”

To his credit, Steve just nodded and wrapped his arm around Bucky’s shoulders again, supporting him. “Any more thought on the name?”

“A little,” Bucky allowed. “I actually found one I really like, but I’m not sure it’s not too unique. I don’t want our kid getting picked on.”

“You think we, or any of our kid’s aunts and uncles, will stand for that, and you’ve got another think comin’, Buck.”

“I know,” he sighed, but couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “Kobik.”

“Kobik,” Steve tried out, nodding. “Any idea what it means?”

“Nope,” Bucky laughed. “What do you think?”

Steve grinned at him. “I love it. How about the middle name?”

Bucky took a breath and looked at Steve. “That one... I’m not sure you’ll be as okay with.”

Steve touched his cheek gently. “I’m up for anything, Buck.”

He leaned into the touch for a second before steeling himself. “Sarah.”

Steve took a breath, carefully not giving anything else away. “Kobik Sarah. I like it.” He smiled at the brunet, who somewhat sagged against him.

“I’m glad.”

Just then the elevator doors opened, and they saw Bruce smiling at them, holding a wheelchair. “Hey,” he said, and motioned to the chair. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want this or not, so I brought it just in case.”

“Please,” Bucky said, shuffling towards it. Once he got situated, Steve grasped his shoulder for a second before grabbing onto the handles and pushing him in the direction Bruce motioned them.

“We have two options,” the doctor was saying. “Either you can be numbed with a regional anesthetic from the waist down, and you’ll be awake when we deliver the baby, or you can be put to sleep. It’s your choice.”

Bucky took a breath and smiled somewhat shakily. “I want to hold my baby as soon as I can.”

“Not a problem,” Bruce assured him. “I took these past couple months to figure out an anesthetic that would work with your metabolism. This should keep you comfortable for well over the time needed to perform the surgery.”

“How long should the surgery take?” Steve asked, glancing at Bucky.

“No longer than half an hour,” he assured them. “Maybe a bit longer to actually stitch you back up again, but you’ll be holding your baby within the hour.” He opened a door and motioned them in. “I won’t actually be your doctor today. I’m more the anesthesiologist. I’ve invited Doctor Cho to help today; or rather, I’ll be helping her today. This is more her area of expertise.”

“Oh,” Bucky said, and relaxed slightly. Out of all the doctors, he had the best relationship with her. He even managed a smile as they entered the room. “Hi, Helen.”

“Hi, Bucky. Glad to see you in here for something that isn’t mission-related.”

“I keep tellin’ ya, if they’d just hold still...” he grinned, and she smiled back.

“That’s the trouble with bad guys, isn’t it? They’re never where you want them. I think you’ll find that to be the case with this one, too.” She nodded at Bucky, and he smiled softly.

“I’m more than ready for it.”

“I’ve no doubt you are,” she said. “Let’s get you set up, yeah?”

With that, Bruce and Helen finished setting up, including getting Bucky onto the gurney.

“You might feel a slight pressure,” Bruce warned him as he readied the needle, and Bucky glanced at Steve nervously. Steve moved over to Bucky’s head and carded his fingers through his hair.

“Right here, babe. Always.”

“I know,” Bucky whispered, giving him a small smile, then a grimace as Bruce pierced his skin with the needle. “Oh, that feels weird.” He scrunched his nose and tried not to move.

“That’s it,” Bruce said, over by the table now. He put the syringe down and exchanged his gloves for clean ones. “It should start to work any second now. Helen?”

She nodded and pressed on Bucky’s stomach slightly. “Feel that?”

Bucky frowned, “I’m not sure if it’s that or if it’s the kid.”

She nodded and moved, pressing on his upper leg. “How about that?”

He looked, face scrunched up in confusion. “No. It’s the weirdest thing. I know I should because I can see it happening, but I can’t feel it.”

Helen nodded with a smile. “It can be an odd sensation, I agree. This next part may go smoother if you don’t look. It’s all a matter of personal choice, but given your background, I believe just letting us work will prove the best course of action.” She somewhat smiled at him, “That, and the action of holding your head up engages your core, which is what we’re going to be cutting into. It can make it difficult for it to stitch itself back together properly.”

“Go right ahead,” Bucky said, resolutely not looking. “Bruce said it’ll take less than an hour?”

“It should, yes. I’m estimating roughly half an hour. It can change based on any number of things, but this procedure is quite simple, and I don’t expect any complications. You’re healthy as can be with no prior illnesses to speak of.” She gave him a soft grin, “Besides the morning sickness in the first trimester, that is.”

Bucky chuckled good-naturedly, “And whatever happened every time I smelled fish. Steve, remember that time, with the, uh... in Jersey.”

Steve chuckled. “Yeah, babe. I remember. You couldn’t even get off the plane.”

“Good thing I was only there as backup.”

“Good thing we didn’t need you.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of adrenaline,” Helen butted in. “If you’d needed him, he would’ve been able to help, no problem.”

“He would’ve anyways,” Steve said, smiling softly at Bucky.

“Stevie?” Bucky asked softly. “How come you haven’t married me yet?”

Steve froze before looking up at the two doctors. “I forgot to mention he might be kind of... floaty,” Bruce said apologetically. Steve just smiled and nodded, relieved.

He turned back to Bucky with a smile. “I’ll marry you if you want, Buck.”

“No.” He frowned. “You hafta want it, too.”

Steve chuckled and caught Bucky’s hand before it could smack his face, kissing the back of it. “I do want it, baby. I’ll marry you soon as we’re done here, ‘kay?”

Bucky frowned again. “No. Need’ta take care of Kobik.”

“We will, Buck. And you know what? She’s gonna have the best dad in the whole world.”

“And the best papa,” Bucky added, poking Steve in the shoulder.

Steve just laughed and grabbed that hand, too. “Yeah, Buck. And the best papa.”

“You know what I’m not gonna miss?” Bucky asked, not really speaking to anyone in particular. “Nutella and pickles. That was gross. Why did I like that?”

“It was a craving, babe. You didn’t have much choice.”

Bucky made a face. “It’s gross. ‘Specially with the ice cream, instead of with the Nutella.”

“I dunno, Buck,” Steve said, smiling.

Bucky frowned and turned his head away. “You’re laughing at me.”

“No, babe, I’m not. I promise. Look at me?” He frowned, but eventually complied, and Steve smiled at him. “There we are. Not laughing at you, okay?”

“M’kay,” Bucky agreed easily, eyes slipping shut in a slow blink. His face suddenly scrunched up. “Why’s my stomach feel weird?”

Steve couldn’t help the laugh that time. “You’re high on anesthetic because Bruce and Helen are performing a c-section on you, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Bucky said, a smile growing on his face. “Imma have a _baby._ ”

“Yes you are, Buck,” Steve chuckled. “In just about...”

“Now,” Helen said, transferring the child to a bath. “Give us a couple minutes and you’ll be able to hold her. Congratulations, Steve, Bucky. It’s a healthy baby girl.”

Just then, she opened her mouth and began to cry. Bucky frowned. “Where’s Kobik?”

“Being washed,” Steve reassured him. “You can hold her in just a minute, okay? Just promise me you’ll stay still.”

“Kobik,” he said, staring at Steve seriously.

“I know, Buck. Just a minute.”

Less than a minute later, Helen was handing Kobik to Bucky, who smiled like he’d never smiled before. “Steve,” he murmured, enchanted. “Steve, look at her.”

“I’m looking,” Steve promised him. “Think I could hold her while the doctors sew you back up?”

Bucky handed Kobik to Steve, smiling sappily at both of them. “She’s perfect, Stevie.”

Steve looked at the bundle in his arms and couldn’t help the smile. “Yeah, Buck. She really is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick translation; “scheisse” is German for shit/crap. General exclamation when something isn’t going right. Pronounced “shy-zuh”.
> 
> Next chapter (which I called “Shenanigans” for no apparent reason) will be like one-shots through the pregnancy and Kobik’s first few years of life. Should be up any minute now...


	3. Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, chapter 3! Enjoy!!

Steve blinked at him incredulously. “You want _what_ now?”

Bucky groaned and shut his eyes, embarrassed. “I know. The best way I have to describe it is cravings.”

Steve let out a breath and nodded. “You’ll be okay here on your own until I get back?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Steve nodded, turning to leave, but hesitated. “Are you sure? Buck, you hate pickles.”

“I know. Yes, I’m _sure._ Please, Steve?”

He nodded decisively and dropped a kiss on the brunet’s forehead. “I’ll be back in less than half an hour.”

“I love you,” Bucky replied softly.

Steve smiled. “I love you too.”

With that, he set off for the nearest convenience store. Walking the aisles, he was hard-pressed not to laugh at himself. Captain America, at a convenience store just before it closes, because his partner has crazy cravings.

He couldn’t be happier about it.

He found the pickles and Nutella and made his way to the checkout, smiling at the clerk. “Hello.”

“Hello, sir.” She smiled back at him, albeit somewhat guarded, then took a look at his purchases and relaxed a bit. “Cravings?”

Steve chuckled, “Yes ma’am. First time pregnant and first time for cravings, so we were unprepared.” He shook his head, “Neither of us like pickles normally.”

She smiled warmly at him. “Congratulations, and I completely understand. At least yours isn’t craving that one specific chocolate she had ten years ago in Canada.” She shook her head with a grin. “Took forever for my boyfriend to find it. Thank God for Amazon, right?”

“Exactly,” Steve nodded. “We’ve spent way too much on that site trying to get the nursery ready, though. You get sucked in.”

“Exactly,” she grinned, and just then his phone rang.

He excused himself to look at it and immediately answered when he saw who it was. “Hey, babe.” He blinked, then motioned for the clerk to stop the transaction. “You want-” a pause, then a sigh. “No, yeah, that’s fine. Any certain flavor, or... yeah, I can do that.” He smiled, “It’s alright, babe. Love you.”

He put his phone away and smiled apologetically at the cashier. “Chocolate ice cream.”

She smiled at him knowingly. “Third aisle. I’d suggest Blue Bell’s Dutch Chocolate if she’s not craving a specific brand or type.”

“You’re a saint,” he told her. “Can you hold my things until I get back?”

She looked around at the empty store with a smirk. “Well, I don’t know, sir. I mean, we’re just so busy right now...”

Steve laughed and made his way to the aisle she’d pointed out, quickly grabbing a carton and returning to the register. He grabbed one extra item and smiled at the cashier.

She smiled back when she scanned the gummies. “For you or her?”

Steve just laughed. “I don’t like gummies. They love them.”

She nodded and motioned to the card reader. “They’re lucky to have a partner like you.” She fidgeted a bit. “A word of advice?”

He looked at her and smiled. “I’ll take just about anything.”

She took a breath, “Try something more than a ball cap next time. It does nothing to hide you, and if that’s what you’re going for, I have to say I’m rather unimpressed.”

He couldn’t help the chuckle as he pulled his card from the reader and put it back in his wallet. “This was a last-minute trip on a random Thursday after dark. I didn’t expect to run into many people, much less anyone who’d care, but I’ll keep that in mind.” It was Steve’s turn to fidget. “I really hope I’m not crossing any lines, but we don’t have any friends who’ve ever been pregnant.”

She smiled at him. “Come back and find me any time. Unless-” she paused and studied him before letting out a breathy chuckle. “That’s not what you mean, is it? You want to know if you can have my number.”

He grinned sheepishly at her. “Stupid, right?”

“Not at all, though I didn’t expect you to be quite so straightforward about it. Tell you what, I’ll come back at four tomorrow, off the clock, and I can give you my number then. But only if I can meet your partner.” She winked at him.

He shuffled nervously. “I’m afraid that won’t be happening. Not immediately, at least. They’re not leaving the apartment anytime soon.” He let out a breath, “And there’s more to explain beyond that. Maybe you and your...” he glanced at her left hand, “fiancé? Husband? Can come over soon.”

She touched the engagement ring with a smile. “I’d like that. I’m afraid my husband is out of town on a work trip at the moment and won’t be back until sometime next month. If I can find a sitter, though, I might take you up on the offer.”

Steve smiled, “Bring your kid. Kids? We’d love to have all of you. Tell you what, you know that old brownstone by the park about half a mile away?”

“I think so, yes.”

Steve grinned. “Number 412. Tomorrow? Four? We’d love to have you for dinner as well.”

“Sounds great,” she promised. “Thank you, Captain.”

“Steve,” he said automatically. “Thank you, Cynthia.”

“Thank you, Steve.”

* * *

“Steve!” He called frantically. “What does she want?”

Steve walked out of their bedroom with an empty bottle in hand. “Have you fed her? Burped her? Changed her?”

“All of those! Here, you take her. I’ll deal with the day-old milk.” He wrinkled his nose at the bottle in Steve’s hand.

“Hey, baby girl,” Steve crooned softly, adjusting the blanket so it wasn’t covering her face. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you happy, huh?” He clucked and began to rock, side-to-side.

Bucky sighed as her wailing began to trickle off. “I swear, it’s like she doesn’t even know I’m the one who _birthed_ her. The ungrateful rascal,” he teased, but his expression was so full of love, Steve took what he said with a grain of salt.

“Aw,” Steve cooed. “She was just tired, Buck. She just wanted her papa. Besides, she already knows she’s got the best daddy in the world. She wanted her papa to prove himself.”

“You’re full of hot air, Rogers,” Bucky said, but he was grinning.

* * *

He awakened with what was almost a start. Kobik should’ve been crying by now; it was well past time for her to eat. He quickly got up and walked to the nursery, stopping in the doorway and looking at the scene before him in wonder.

Holding Kobik and a bottle, seated in the rocking chair, was Steve, fast asleep. Bucky smiled softly and extricated first the bottle from Kobik and Steve’s combined grips, then Kobik from Steve’s grip. “C’mon, honey,” he murmured, placing her in the crib. “There we go. I’m glad your papa woke up before I did, but I do wish he wouldn’t fall asleep while he was feeding you.” He smirked at the wall behind the crib, then turned to wake Steve when he walked into a wall.

Not a wall, precisely; more accurately, he walked into Steve, who wrapped his arms around him to make sure he wouldn’t fall. “Oof. Hi, baby.” He tilted his head up for a kiss. “Thanks for feeding her.”

Steve grinned back, letting him know he heard what Bucky said to their daughter. “Sorry for falling asleep.”

Bucky shook his head and pressed another kiss to Steve’s lips. “As often as you want if it means you’re doing this for me. I love you.”

“I love you too, Buck.” He stifled a yawn. “Back to bed?”

“God, yes, please.”

* * *

“I heard there’s someone I should meet,” Natasha said, standing on their doorstep, eyebrow raised in challenge at Steve, who simply chuckled and welcomed her in.

“Buck, Nat’s here. Where’s Kobik?”

“Down for her nap and we are not waking her up,” came the response from the hallway, just outside the closed door of the nursery.

“Who said anything about waking up?” Natasha countered, hugging Bucky. “Just a peek, I promise.”

“It won’t be, once you see her. How about this, you head back to the tower, and once she wakes up from her nap, we’ll come visit everyone. It should be just in time for dinner, too.”

She hummed, pretending to consider it. “Alright, but only if I get to hold her first, and you introduce me as Auntie Nat.”

“Done and done,” Bucky laughed, brushing a kiss on her cheek. “See you in a couple hours.”

~•~

“Alright, Kobik,” Bucky said, smiling at the redhead standing in front of him as he gently pushed her paci back inside her mouth. “This is your Auntie Nat. She’s gonna teach you all sorts of cool things when you’re older.” He handed her over, making sure her head was supported, and smiled as Natasha began cooing at her.

“Hi, little one,” she said quietly. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She winced as Kobik grabbed a few strands of hair. “Yes, that’s my hair. It’s attached to me, if you don’t mind,” she said, grabbing her hair above where Kobik had it and gently pulling. “Bucky? A little help?”

“Sorry,” he said, laughing. “I should’ve warned you. Her grip’s surprisingly strong.”

She sighed as her hair was freed. “I guess I should take a page from your book and keep it tied back. Can you take her for a second while I do that? She comes right back to me after, though.”

“Of course,” Bucky laughed, accepting his daughter. “Hi, honey. Yeah, I know, but Auntie Nat’s gotta pull her hair back before you pull it out.”

Natasha smiled at them and held her arms out for the baby once more. “Okay, sweet girl, sorry. I gotcha again.”

Steve laughed as he walked up to them. “At this point, she won’t know her name is Kobik. It’ll be baby girl, sweet girl, little one... I think I heard Clint call one of his kids _Monkey_ earlier and I’m not convinced he won’t call her something like that, too.”

Natasha laughed softly, “If anything, he’ll call her Princess.”

Steve tilted his head in mock thought. “Actually, I’m okay with that one.” He grinned at her as he held up his phone. “Say cheese!”

* * *

Bucky walked out of the nursery, Kobik in his arms and a strange expression on his face. “Steve?”

He turned from where he was watching TV in the living room. “Yeah, Buck?”

“Did you put Kobik to sleep on her stomach?”

Steve frowned in thought. “No, I put her on her back, like I always do.”

Bucky began to grin. “In that case, she rolled over.”

Steve raised his brows in surprise. “Already? She’s only five months!”

“I know,” Bucky grinned, almost giddy with it. His grin dropped as suddenly as it had appeared. “Oh my god, Steve. We might have to go see Bruce.”

Steve got off the couch and started towards him. “Why? What’s wrong?” He placed an arm under Bucky’s, supporting Kobik, and the other around Bucky.

“If we both got versions of the serum,” he started slowly, “it would make sense she’d get some of that, right? I mean, it’s kind of written into our DNA at this point. She would’ve gotten that from us.” Suddenly, he began to laugh giddily. “Imagine a toddler temper tantrum with super strength.”

Steve laughed quietly with him. “Makes me glad we’re both enhanced, too.”

Bucky hummed as he leaned into Steve. “Makes me glad every day. Means I’m here with you.”

* * *

“You got your phone?” Bucky murmured, focused on their daughter.

“Recording.”

Bucky turned quickly to grin at him, then focused back on Kobik. “Come on, baby girl, you got it. Come on, Kobik. That’s right, come to Daddy.” He grinned at her and held his arms open, just a few inches away from where she’d pulled up onto the coffee table. She babbled and slapped the table with the palm of her hand before looking behind Bucky at Steve and making a grabby hand while keeping herself supported with the other. All of a sudden, she took three short, quick steps in Bucky’s direction, and he caught her before she could fall.

He tossed her into the air then nuzzled her cheek with his nose. “Good job, Kobik!” He cheered, and she laughed and clapped, bouncing in his arms. He laughed. “Oh, you wanna go again?” He set her down an arms’ length away and grinned at her. “Okay, sweet girl, I’m ready for you. C’mon.”

She let go, raised her hands towards him, and promptly fell on her butt. She froze for a second, and Bucky cheered. “Yay, Kobik!”

Convinced she was alright, she giggled back and crawled toward Bucky. He laughed. “You’re supposed to walk, silly girl,” he told her, nuzzling her cheek again. He stood and faced Steve, smiling into the camera as he waved bye-bye with Kobik’s hand.

* * *

She was babbling to herself, playing with one of her toys, when Steve heard the babbling turn into something else. “Papapapapapa!”

He froze for a second, putting down the knife, wiping his hands on a towel, and walking out of the kitchen to find Kobik, still in the living room. “Hey, baby girl,” he said, pulling out his phone to record. “C’mon, I heard you. Can you say it again?”

She let out a peal of laugher and turned to face him, clapping. “Papapapapa!”

“That’s good,” he praised softly. “How ‘bout just Papa, huh? Can you say Papa, Kobik?”

“Papapapa!” She giggled again and grabbed at his hand. “Papapa!”

“Almost there,” he told her. “Papa.”

“Papapa!”

“Papa.”

“Papapapa!”

Bucky let them know he was there by chuckling. “What’re you two doing? Kobik, are you distracting Papa from making dinner?”

“Papa!”

Steve grinned triumphantly as he turned his phone off and scooped Kobik up. “She said my name first,” he teased Bucky, nuzzling her neck with his nose, letting out a soft breath and chuckling when she twitched, ticklish.

Bucky laughed and took her from the blond so he could finish dinner. “How about me, Kobik? Say Daddy? Dada?”

“Papa!”

He mock-glared at his partner. “This is your fault.”

“It’s not a fault if I meant for it to happen,” he teased, dropping a kiss to Bucky’s cheek before turning back to the kitchen.

* * *

“Papa!” She called, a few months before her fourth birthday. “Papa, look!”

“I’m comin’, baby girl,” he said, making his way over to her.

She pouted. “Not a baby. I’m a big girl.”

“You are,” he agreed easily, scooping her into his arms. “The biggest.”

“Bigger’n you ‘n Daddy!”

“Uh-huh,” Steve agreed, not actually sure what was going on anymore. “What’d you call me over here for?”

She giggled and pointed out the window. “The clouds are falling!”

Steve couldn’t help the laugh. “Those aren’t clouds, sweet girl. That’s snow. It’s cold and it’s fun to play in.”

Kobik frowned. “Daddy ‘n you don’t like cold.”

Steve blinked, not actually sure where she’d gotten that idea. She was right, technically, but that didn’t mean she should know that yet. “Just because we don’t have anyone to play in it with us.” He pouted at her. “Will you play in it with us?”

She giggled at him and hugged his neck, slightly choking him. “Yeah! I’ll play!”

“Good to know,” he chuckled. “How about some lunch first?”

“Mac ‘n cheese!” She cheered, and Steve sighed. “Of course. You’re sure you don’t want _anything_ else?”

“Mac ‘n cheese!”

“You’d think you’d get tired of it after the forty-second time in a row.”

“Mac ‘n cheese!”

He chuckled, “Alright, big girl. Mac ‘n cheese it is.”

* * *

“Daddy?” She whispered, standing in the doorway of their room. Bucky awakened and looked toward the door.

“Kobik? What’s wrong?” He got up as she whimpered. “Oh, baby. Did you have a bad dream?”

She sniffled and nodded. “I had a nightmirror.”

He smiled softly at her. “Nightmare, sweetheart. It’s okay. Want me to tuck you back in?”

She whimpered again and clung to him. “‘M alone.”

“I know, baby,” Bucky reassured her. “But we’re right here, and we’ll always, always protect you, okay?” She nodded, still hiding her face in his neck. He sighed, wondering when he’d become such a pushover. “Wanna sleep with us tonight?”

She nodded again, not moving until he laid back down with her. She shuffled over until she was in the crevice between his arm and chest. “G’night, Daddy.”

“Goodnight, sweet girl. I love you.”

“I love you too.” She pressed a kiss to his shoulder and quickly fell asleep, Bucky not far behind.

He woke up in the morning to see Steve lowering his phone with a grin. “You’re cute,” he said, unapologetically. “I didn’t mean to wake you, though. Sorry.”

Bucky just hummed, eyes slipping shut again as Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead.


	4. Engagement/Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, in all its glory, finished at last!! Hope you like it! 😊
> 
> Also we’re ignoring all timelines because I said so.
> 
> Also we’re pretending I have any idea how weddings work. And we’re pretending that I did any actual googling at all to figure it out.
> 
> ...it’s fine. If it’s completely wrong, then it’ll just be how weddings are in the Marvel ‘verse. It’s okay.

Steve was staring at him for long enough that he was getting nervous. “What?” He self-consciously tucked his hair behind his ears, then frowned and patted all over his hair. “Did Kobik get paint on my hair again?”

The blond chuckled and shook his head. “No, I’m just thinking. Do you remember any of what you said when you were doped up for the c-section?”

Bucky narrowed his eyes. “Something about fish? And Jersey? And of course I remember Kobik. Why?”

Steve shook his head with a private smile. “No reason. Just a heads-up, I’ve got some things to take care of tomorrow. I’m pretty sure I’ll be out all day. Will you need me for anything?”

Bucky shrugged, “Not that I can think of. Why?”

Steve shrugged, “No reason. Just making sure.”

“What are you doing?” Bucky asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Nothing at all,” Steve replied, with the air of someone hiding an obvious secret; something like how Bucky imagined it might feel when Kobik would tell him, “Don’t look!” during Christmas this year as she makes his present.

Bucky just scoffed and shook his head. “Alright, fine, don’t tell me then. I’ve got Kobik, what else do I need?” He grinned at the blond, who just grinned back. His smile suddenly turned sappy. “I really do love you, you know. We joke about it all the time but Kobik has an amazing Papa and I’ve got an amazing partner. Life kinda screwed with us but if theres one thing I know you’ll do, it’s fight. And you fought basically the world for me. Which,” he adopted a stern face and pointed an accusatory finger at Steve, “Don’t do that. Don’t fight the entire world.” He grinned as Steve chuckled. “But It’s all evidence of how much you love me, and I really just wish I had a way to show you how much I love you that was equal to that.”

Steve took a deep breath to regain control of his emotions and crossed the room to kiss the brunet. “I love you so much,” he murmured. “And you did show me. You do, every day. The one big one was when you broke through your conditioning. That gave me the hope I needed to keep going. But you show me every day, Buck. In the way you took most of the night feedings, and sheet changes, and sick days, and let me sleep or work or whatever I had to do. When you even let me sleep in and make me coffee when I wake up. In the kiss and the full pat-down I get every time I get home from a mission, just making sure I’m okay. It’s all of it, Buck.”

Bucky smiled softly at him and pulled him closer. “I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

“I know.”

They pulled back, and Bucky gave Steve a soft smile. “Go out tomorrow and do what you have to. It’s okay, I promise.”

Steve thanked him with a quick kiss. “If It’s any consolation, I think you’ll really like it.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it,” Bucky promised him.

* * *

Steve left the house the next morning and immediately pulled his phone out. “Cynthia? Hey. Is there any way we can meet today?”

She paused before answering. “I’ve got Max with me all day. We could meet at the park?”

“Sounds great,” Steve promised. “When?”

She made a sound like a verbal shrug. “Twenty minutes? An hour? Enough time to make sure he’s got a shirt, pants, socks, and matching shoes on.”

“Matching shoes?”

“He wanted to go out yesterday with one sandal and one rain boot. I don’t even know where he gets those ideas.”

Steve chuckled and started walking. “Tell you what, I’ll head over to the park and you can come find me at the swings when you get there. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect. See you!”

“See you.”

He ended the call and checked the time, deciding he had enough time for a quick lap around the park, hopefully dispelling some of the anxiety trying to creep up on him.

He had been sitting on the bench, watching the kids playing, for about five minutes before he heard a commotion behind him and turned to rescue Max from eating wood chips. “Whoa, bud,” he chuckled, setting him upright. “Watch where you’re going, okay?”

“Okay!” He agreed happily, running off to claim the pirate ship wheel as his property.

Steve chuckled as Cynthia heaved a sigh as she collapsed onto the bench next to him. “I swear I don’t know where he gets the energy. He’s an Energizer bunny on steroids.”

Steve just laughed. “He’s three. He’ll grow out of it.” He grinned widely at her, “Take it from the guy who basically had three younger sisters growing up, and now has a four-year-old. They had way too munch energy for me, and I can only keep up with her now because of what turned me into this.” He gestured at himself with a smirk, and she chuckled.

“Still, I’ll bet you kept up better than I did.”

“Only because I don’t know how to take no for an answer, even from my own body,” he laughed. “Anyways, I was hoping you could help me.”

“Right,” Cynthia agreed, sitting up straight to focus. “More Kobik troubles?”

“Actually, Kobik’s been great,” Steve said. “This is something that has to do with Bucky.”

“Okay.”

“I want to marry him.” She gasped slightly, but nodded for him to go on. “You know the situation; he had to get a C-section. While he was doped to on meds, he asked me why I hadn’t married him yet.” He gave a slight chuckle as he relived the memory. “I told him of course I would, but he was emphatic that he would only marry me if we were sure it’s what we both want. And I know him; he thinks he’s got too much good already, that he’s not allowed to have more. So he won’t ask for it. Won’t even hint at it. But he does want it. I just don’t know how to even begin this.”

Cynthia nodded, pursing her lips. “I get it, completely. Well, the first thing is to decide if you want to give him a traditional ring, or go gay and give him a watch.” At his confused look, she smiled and elaborated. “Most men nowadays, if they want to propose to their boyfriend, do so with a watch. As far as I know, a ring can be taken off and used for the actual wedding as well, so it’s an engagement ring and wedding ring all at once.”

Steve nodded, considering, then said, “I think he’d like a ring more. I do too, if I’m being honest.”

“Perfect,” she said happily. “Next step is to consider who he is, and what he’d like best, without sacrificing what you’d like best, too. This is where I come in, because if I know anything about you by now, it’s that you’re a self-sacrificing asshole who won’t accept a good thing when it’s staring him in the face if he thinks he doesn’t deserve it.” She stared at him, challenging him, for long enough that he laughed.

“Okay, you win. How do we do that?”

She grinned and pulled out her phone, opening the notes app. “This is the fun part.”

* * *

“Hi,” he said politely, placing the small box on the counter. “How much for an engraving? And how long can it be?”

* * *

He smiled at the attendant behind the counter. “How much for a custom arrangement?”

* * *

He dialed a number and waited while it connected. “Hi! I just wanted to see if you had any Glenn Miller, and if so, what albums.”

* * *

He grinned as he opened his eyes, even as he extricated Bucky’s hair from his mouth. Today was the day.

It started out relatively normal; Kobik refused to eat anything that wasn’t oatmeal made exactly the way she liked it, Steve took her to the park while Bucky napped, and they watched a TV show together while Kobik napped.

After her nap, Steve took her to the kitchen to prepare her a snack, then moved back out to the living room to put on a record. “Buck? Can you come here, please?”

Bucky walked to the living room from their bedroom, concern etched on his face. “What’s up?”

Steve just smiled and played the song, walking towards Bucky and drawing him closer, towards the middle of the room. Eventually he began to softly sing the words with Glenn. “First I held him lightly and we started to dance, then I held him tightly what a dreamy romance.” He dug his nose in Bucky’s neck, causing the brunet to squeak and shy away. Steve just tightened his hold and continued dancing with him.

As the last notes of the song echoed through the room, Kobik emerged, grinning proudly as she carried a bouquet of flowers. “Yay, Daddy! Yay, Papa!”

Bucky laughed at her wobbling steps as she tried to carry something not all that much smaller than her. “Thanks, Princess. Who’re those for?”

“You!” She said, hastening her steps. She shoved them in his arms and clambered up to sit on his knee. “And there’s a special one, too! Can you find it?”

Bucky hummed, pretending to think it over. “I dunno, baby girl. I might need help. Do you think you could help me?”

“Yeah!” She grinned, rustling through the flowers. She finally came upon one that had a string dangling from it, and on the other end of the string was a ring.

Bucky froze and turned to look at Steve, who knelt to unknot the ring, resolutely not looking at Bucky. He spoke as he worked. “Once upon a time, a long time ago, there were these two kids. One was always getting into trouble, and the other was getting him out of trouble. Most times, that is. One of those times, something terrible happened, and the first kid thought he’d lost the second. But someone important must’ve believed in miracles, because for some reason, they were allowed a second chance. And the first kid isn’t letting that chance slip away again.” He got it free and held it out to Bucky. “So, Bucky Barnes, Will you marry me?”

Bucky laughed, a wet, unsure thing. “Of course I will, Steve. I can’t believe you did this.”

“Only the best for you,” Steve grinned, bowing. Bucky snorted at him and pulled him up.

“C’mere.” With that, their lips met.

Kobik giggled as she said, “Ew!”

“Oh, hush, little missy,” Bucky smiled at her. “Y’know what, you c’mere too!” His grin grew as he launched himself at her, getting an elbow to his stomach for his troubles. He grunted but held on to her, straightening her out and turning her around so they were facing each other. “You know something, Kobik?” He asked seriously, and her eyes widened.

“What?”

“I think because you helped Papa with that, you deserve something, too.”

Kobik’s expression turned doubtful. “What?”

Bucky grinned at her before saying, “A buncha kisses!” With that, he pecked her all over her face, stopping when they were both laughing too hard to do anything else. Bucky finally looked up at Steve to see him smiling at the two of them softly, phone just coming down from picture position. “You and that phone,” Bucky chuckled. “C’mere again.”

Settling in his fiancé’s arms—and didn’t that sound incredible—with their daughter between them, Bucky didn’t know the last time he’d been this happy.

* * *

Bucky didn’t know the last time he’d been this nervous. He straightened his suit once more, glancing over himself in the mirror, and turned to look at Natasha. “You’re _sure_ I shouldn’t do something else with my hair?”

Natasha was lounging casually up against a table in a way she shouldn’t logically be able to in a dress. “Touch your hair after I fixed it for you and you won’t live to call him your husband. These are just nerves and you’ll get through this. Okay?”

Bucky let out a breath and nodded. “Okay. I can do this.”

Her expression softened and she smiled at him. “If it makes any difference, Steve loves you regardless of what you’re wearing or what your hair looks like, and you know that. It’ll be fine. We’ve taken precautions to ensure it’ll be fine. All you have to do is go out there and say the words I know you’ve been practicing for at least a week.”

Bucky nodded and smiled at her. “Thanks, Nat. I don’t think I knew how much I needed that until you said it.”

She just smiled back and kissed his cheek. “I know.” She gave him a small shove, “Now let’s go out there and finally get you hitched!”

Bucky just laughed and started walking. “Yes ma’am!”

In hindsight, he didn’t know why they’d all gotten dressed up; there were roughly eight people on the planet who knew they were getting married, and Thor was unreachable, off-world. They had elected to have a civil wedding, so they met in the officiant’s office, Bucky walking in with Natasha on his arm. She somewhat gave him up at the altar and went to stand behind him, more as a witness than as a groomsman.

The officiant droned on until, “Do you have the rings?”

“No!” Came a little voice, “I do!”

Bucky chuckled at his daughter. “We gave them to her to keep them safe for us. She’s doing a very good job,” he said, purposing to use his extra-serious voice for the last part. She beamed at the praise.

“Yes,” the officiant said, somewhat disgustedly. Or maybe he had awful allergies; Bucky had no idea. “The rings, please, ma’am.” He smiled at her, a small one, and she grinned back as she raised her hands, then frowned at them.

“Uh-oh.”

Bucky looked and couldn’t see anything wrong; both rings were there and were still ring-shaped. “What’s up, baby girl?”

“She never lets me call her that,” Steve muttered, just low enough for Bucky to hear, and he smirked.

“I dunno which ring is Papa’s and which ring is Daddy’s.”

Bucky smiled, relieved that’s all it was. “That’s okay, sweetheart, we know. Can we have them?”

She beamed again and plopped them in his outstretched hand. He found his, “A line never ends” engraved on the inside, and handed it to Steve to slide on his finger.

“If you have vows prepared, you may read them now,” the officiant said.

Steve smiled at him thankfully, then gazed at the brunet in front of him. “Bucky, I told you a story when I asked you to marry me. I didn’t tell you how that little kid almost lost hope so many times, then heard your voice, saying _come on, Rogers, get up, don’t let this beat you._ You were such an instrumental part of my life, and every day I thank whatever god is out there that you made your way back. Because I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise.” He shook his head and cleared his throat. “I’ve loved you since I was old enough to know what love was, or maybe even before. I always knew you were something special. I’ve loved you forever and I will love you forever, and I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you every day just how much you mean to me.” He carefully slid the ring onto Bucky’s finger.

“You’re a sap,” Bucky informed him, even as he wiped away his own tears. “If you’ve loved me forever, then I’ve loved you forever and a day, if only because I’m older than you. You’ve always been the one for me. I...” he paused and assessed, then decided to continue in a fierce whisper. “I never forgot you. They had to show me the newspaper article about the crash. But I never really forgot you. I forgot me, and everyone around me, and what I was doing and who I was, but I never once forgot you. There was always a skinny little punk telling me I could do it.” He gave a watery smile, “Now it’s a big punk tellin’ me I can do it, and you’ll never know how grateful I am. I love you, and I’m gonna spend the rest of my life showing you, too. Every day. I still kinda can’t believe we’re here and doing this, but I know this is one thing I’ll never forget.” He slid the ring on Steve’s finger, and Steve mock-glared at him through watery eyes.

“I don’t think vows are supposed to make me wanna go out and destroy a Hydra base,” he muttered, smiling wryly at the brunet when he chuckled and shrugged.

“By the power vested in me by the state,” the officiant continued, “I pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss the groom.”

“Don’t needta tell me twice,” Steve muttered as they leaned in.

“Impatient,” Bucky muttered back.

“Always.”

With that, they kissed, a soft, sweet thing. And although they had kissed in a myriad of ways before, they’d never felt like this. This was new, something exciting. And it was all because they were husbands.

“Ew!” Kobik squealed, and Natasha laughed as she picked her up.

“I know, right? Come on, I think you’ve got some ice cream at the house still.” She winked conspiratorially at Kobik, and Bucky glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

“How do you even know what we have? You don’t actually live there.”

“You’re seriously asking me how I know.”

Bucky considered who he was talking to, then shrugged. “Good point.” He leaned into Steve and smiled at them. “You two go have fun, we’ll follow after we get all the boring adult things out of the way.” He crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue at Kobik, which never failed to make her burst out laughing.

Both her fathers chuckled as they turned back to the officiant to get the papers settled. As they walked out of the office, Bucky grinned and intertwined their fingers. “So, husband.”

Steve grinned back, “What to do now, husband?”

Bucky hummed and smiled at him. “Say it like that again.” He pulled the blond closer and kissed him, the way he’d wanted to all day. “I say we let Nat handle Kobik for a little and we go rent a hotel room.”

“You do realize the two of them together will not end well,” Steve tried, even as he let himself be led away.

“Please, Natasha’s responsible. Plus, isn’t Sam there? He’s responsible.”

Steve considered it for all of a quarter of a second. “Alright, you convinced me.” They grinned at each other and, hand in hand, ran down the street to the nearest hotel.

A sibling for Kobik wasn’t ever in the plans; but Kobik and a wedding weren’t ever in the plans, either, and those worked out pretty well.

Bucky decided some things should be left to fate, and let himself be swept away by the love he felt from his husband.

His _husband_... Bucky sighed contentedly. He’d never get tired of saying that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end!
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> ...or is it?
> 
> I lowkey want to do a part 5 with a little brother for Kobik. Or at least the reveal with five-year-old Kobik trying time understand how a baby’s growing inside Daddy, then seeing her baby brother for the first time.
> 
> If you like that idea and want to see it, leave a comment with a name for baby brother!! We’ll see if it happens.... 😉


	5. Testing, One, Two...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so get ready for a 6th part. Someday. Not today. Today you get a 5th part, because that’s what I’ve written. This one is basically just the pregnancy test. Whoops? Not really sorry. Heck-ton of fluff and an idiot Hydra agent. I’m happy with it.
> 
> Also, something adorable from work today. 4=4-year-old. Me=me. Sorry if that wasn’t obvious. 😂
> 
> 4: Do you have a baby in your tummy?  
> Me, a size 00: no...?  
> 4: *looking increasingly distressed* you don’t have a baby in your tummy?  
> Me: no, sweetheart.  
> 4: you don’t live with a husband?  
> Me, a Gay™️, holding back laughter: no, no husband.  
> 4: *still increasingly distressed* so you live all alone?  
> Me: no, honey. I live with my family, with my mommy and daddy and brothers and sister.  
> 4: *suddenly happy* oh! *tackles me in a hug*
> 
> Y’all..... y’all I love her. She’s my favorite ever.

“Morning, Buck,” Steve smiled, handing him a cup of coffee with a kiss to his forehead. Bucky just grunted, put the coffee down, and leaned into Steve, closing his eyes. “Buck?” Steve asked, concerned. “You feeling okay?”

Bucky grunted again, then pulled back and opened his eyes with what looked like Herculean effort. “‘M exhausted.”

Steve frowned, feeling his forehead. “Did you sleep okay last night?”

Bucky hummed and leaned into the hand on his forehead, eyes slipping shut again. “Had to get up, like, six times to pee, but otherwise okay. Did I wake you at all?”

“No, you were quiet.” He gathered him in and contemplated his phone on the far counter. “Anything else?”

“‘M pissed as hell at God-knows-what.” He pulled back again and opened his eyes to slits to glare at Steve. “Is this how you feel? It’s exhausting.”

Steve chuckled and kissed his cheek. “Nah, not really. It’s more like Bruce’s other guy.”

“‘M mad at Hydra,” he said, then stopped.

“Yeah?” Steve asked, walking them towards the couch and snagging his phone on the way. He opened up his Messages app one-handed.

**Natasha**

**Steve:** Can you come get Kobik? Something’s up & I think it might be best for her to be out of the house for a bit. Couple hours maybe? I’ll let you know once I know more.

 **Natasha:** ✔️ Read 11:47A.M.

Steve pocketed his phone and turned his attention fully to Bucky, who was staring off in the distance with an increasingly disturbed expression. “Buck?” He softly touched his cheek, “Come back to me.”

“‘M mad at Hydra,” he said again. “They did horrible things to people and they’ve never gotten their fair share. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s not—” he broke off to sniff, and his eyes filled with tears. “Steve, they broke me. And I’m still broken. I’m so tired and I’m lost and I don’t know what I’m doing and you and Kobik are too good to be true. There are days I wake up and wait for them to come in and tell me it was all a dream.”

Steve rubbed his hand up and down Bucky’s arm as he tried to think of what to say. He heard Natasha talking to Kobik in her room.

“Why are we leaving?”

“Daddy and Papa need some alone time,” Nat said apologetically. “Daddy’s brain sometimes calls him mean things, and it makes him sad. So Papa helps him, just like Papa and Daddy and Auntie Nat help you when someone calls you a mean thing.”

“Oh,” Kobik said.

The next sound he heard was a scuffle and a muffled, “Kobik, no!”

The five-year-old peeked her head around the corner, then marched in front of her Daddy, hands on hips. Natasha came around the corner, looking somewhat sheepish. “Sometimes my brain tries to call me mean things, too,” Kobik confided. “It said I was bad for not eating all my brocc’li, even though you said it was okay. So I told it to be quiet, because you always tell me the truth. So I didn’t need to eat all my brocc’li, and the mean voice was lying.”

“You’re very smart,” Bucky told her seriously. “And you’re right. I need to tell the voice to be quiet.” He sat up and pulled Kobik onto his lap. “But sometimes it’s not that simple. Daddy did some things a long time ago that weren’t good, and it’s the memories that are telling me that I’m bad. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, but the memories are wrong,” Kobik argued vehemently, grasping his hand in both of hers. “Because you’re my Daddy. And my Daddy is the best person ever. And so is Papa,” she added, looking at Steve, who chuckled.

Bucky smiled and kissed her temple. “Thanks, baby girl. Go with Auntie Nat, okay? Go have fun. Papa’s gonna help me tell the memories to be quiet, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed happily, and ran back to her auntie, tugging her out the front door. “Come on! We can go to the park and play on the playground and the swings and pet a doggy and play fetch with a doggy...” the door shut, leaving them alone, and Bucky regarded Steve.

“That was all you.”

“Excuse me?” Steve questioned, amused.

“You heard me. That was all you. All that sass and all that righteous indignation on my behalf? That’s all from you.”

Steve laughed and shook his head. “I can’t say I disagree with anything she said, honestly.”

“My point stands,” Bucky nodded, then yawned. “Dammit, my coffee’s in the kitchen.” He yawned again as he stood. “Turn on something to watch?”

Steve chuckled as the brunet made his way to the kitchen. “You mean turn on something for you to ignore and fall asleep to?”

The next thing he heard was a soft, “Oh, fuck.”

The next sound was silence.

Steve started to make his way to the kitchen. “Buck? You okay?” He found Bucky laying face up on the kitchen tile, blinking his eyes open. “Bucky?”

He slowly moved his eyes to meet Steve’s face. “I passed out.”

“Yeah, I caught as much,” Steve agreed. “Did you get up too fast?”

“If I’d gotten up too fast, I would’ve passed out over by the couch.”

“Wise guy,” Steve muttered, helping him into a sitting position. “Wanna call Bruce?”

Bucky hummed and shook his head, “Not yet. Could’ve been a one-off thing because of the crying, for all we know. I feel relatively fine now.”

“Relatively?” Steve raised a brow, and Bucky rolled his eyes.

“I’m fine, quit mother hennin’.”

“Except you’re not,” Steve told him. “Come on. Back on the couch, and you’re not moving until we figure this out.” Bucky gave him a look. “After the show,” he amended. “ _Planet Earth?_ ”

Bucky just grinned at him.

* * *

A quarter of the way through the show, Bucky had fallen asleep and tipped over to lean on Steve. Halfway through, he was getting restless, shifting and muttering in his sleep. Steve gently put his hand on Bucky’s lower back to comfort him through the nightmare.

What he didn’t expect was for Bucky to shy away from the touch and wake up from the violent flinch.

He blinked into the middle ground, then seemed to come back into himself, wincing as he shifted. “Damn,” he muttered, pushing himself up. “My back’s killing me.”

Steve hummed unhappily. “Want me to massage it?”

Bucky shrugged, “If you want. I could probably just fall asleep again if I lay down.”

“Lemme try first?” Steve asked, getting up so Bucky could lay facedown on the couch.

“Yeah, ‘course. Just don’t block the TV,” he smirked.

“Yes, your highness,” Steve snarked, and purposely moved to block Bucky’s view of the TV.

“Move, you ass,” he muttered, smacking it in retaliation. “The penguins are on.”

Steve laughed and moved. “So I can block the TV when the penguins aren’t on?”

“I never said that,” Bucky retorted, then winced. “Ah, God, right there. That’s the worst part.”

Steve concentrated his massage on the spot Bucky had specified, and soon enough Bucky relaxed. “That’s better,” he murmured. “Now it’s just a general pain.”

“It helped though?” Steve checked, and Bucky nodded, so Steve continued with the massage. “How about we finish the show in our room? Properly lay down?”

Bucky managed a sound like a verbal shrug. “Fine with me. Not that I’ll stay awake long enough to enjoy it.”

Steve sighed as he rubbed his husband’s back. “I really think we should check with Bruce, Buck. Just to make sure you’re not low on iron or something. You’re not normally this tired.”

“I know,” Bucky frowned. “I just don’t like bothering him when I can just deal instead.”

“But why just deal when you have a bunch of people who want to help you?”

Bucky turned on his side to stare at Steve incredulously. “Okay, because that’s not _exactly_ you.”

Steve sighed again. “I know, okay, I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that I think you should see Bruce.”

Bucky sighed and shut his eyes. “I’m never gonna win, am I? Fine. I’ll go see him tomorrow.”

Steve smiled at him, a soft thing that he couldn’t help returning. “Thanks. And we could even bring Kobik, you know Uncle Bruce adores her.”

“Please, everyone adores her. Even that random lady at the grocery store.”

Steve laughed at the memory of a grandmotherly woman coming up to them and raining compliments on Kobik. “Especially the lady. Now, bed?”

Bucky shrugged and shut his eyes. “I could just sleep here instead.”

Steve laughed before picking him up, eliciting a shouted curse. “Sorry, babe. Just want you comfy.”

Bucky grumbled nonsensically and struggled, getting out of Steve’s arms and almost stalking off. “I can walk.”

Steve suddenly stopped. “Buck, I think you should see Bruce now.” He caught Bucky’s arm and turned him to face each other. “Think about it. Our wedding was three months ago, right? Give or take?”

“Right.”

“And remember what we did that night? When Natasha took Kobik?”

“At the hotel? ‘Course.” His eyes widened suddenly. “Wait, you don’t think-”

“I do,” Steve nodded. “Your symptoms line up almost exactly, and what doesn’t can change from situation to situation.”

“Oh my god,” Bucky murmured. “Okay, let’s go talk to him. You’re right.”

Ten minutes later, they were in the car. Bucky put a hand on Steve’s arm as Steve went to back out of his parking spot. “Should we call him first? We don’t know if he’s actually there, and what if we can just do a store-bought test? There’s no reason to bother him if we can just do that.”

“If you want to, sure.” Steve put the car back in park and smiled at the brunet, twining their fingers together after Bucky held the phone up to his ear.

“Hey Bruce, are you busy? Okay. No, no, that’s fine. I just had a quick question, actually. Is there any way for me to use a store-bought pregnancy test?” He nodded and said, “Okay. Perfect. Will do. Thanks, Bruce. I appreciate it.” He smiled, “Bye.”

Turning to his husband, he smiled and kissed the back of his hand. “New plan. I go to bed, you go to the store and get a test. Bruce said get a few from different brands and do all of them, to make sure it’s not a fluke.”

“Okay, babe,” Steve answered, leaning across the center console to kiss Bucky’s cheek. “I’ll be back soon. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Bucky answered. “See you in a bit.” He stepped out of the car and made his way back inside, immediately going to lie down.

He awakened to quiet footsteps. Smiling, he said, “I hope you’re gonna join me.”

The footsteps faltered, and between one second and the next, he was on high alert. First, Steve wouldn’t have faltered. Second, Steve would’ve responded.

_This wasn’t Steve._

It also wasn’t any of their friends, because they would’ve said something.

When the footsteps started up again, he waited until they were just beside the bed. In a flurry of movement, he flipped over and grabbed the closest hand with his left hand, squeezing just enough to let his would-be captor know he meant business. “Try me,” he growled, low, dangerous. “I dare you.”

The man just growled back at him. “Longing. Rusted. Furnace-”

Bucky couldn’t help the laugh, even as he squeezed the man’s wrist tighter. “Those words haven’t worked on me in years. And good luck with any of the others, too. We got all of them.” He released the man’s wrist as he pointed a gun at him. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna sit there, quietly, and I’m gonna make a few calls.” He gestured to the floor with the gun. “That’s option one. Option two is I use this, and then clean your brains from my wall. And trust me when I say I don’t particularly have a preference.”

The man grinned slowly. “You think I would come here to collect the Soldier without backup?”

Bucky just grinned back. “What time is it?”

The man blinked. “What?”

“I said, what time is it.” His grin dropped and he moved closer to the agent, gun never wavering. “Because if it’s been fifteen minutes—and I’m not telling you since _when_ —I’ve got backup, too.” He clicked the safety off, relishing in the way the agent looked marginally nervous now. “I’ll ask you one more time. Sit.” He gives him an almost-kind smile and cocks his head to the side. “Please.”

The man glared at him, but sat.

“Thank you. Now, as for that call.” He transferred the gun to his left hand and grabbed his phone from the nightstand with his right. He tapped a couple times and held it up to his ear. “Hey, you still with Kobik? Yeah, me too.” A slight chuckle. “I couldn’t quite do that. Because I’m not you, why else? Point being, he’s still here. Threatened me with the words, if you can believe it. In English.” He scoffed and shook his head. “I know. Wanna drop her off with Clint and come help me deal with him? Perfect. See you then.”

He ended the call and smiled politely at the guy. “Five minutes. I don’t envy what she’s going to do to you when she gets here. She’s rather... _protective_ of her friends.”

“Who is _she?_ ” The man asked, practically spitting the word.

Bucky couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. “Well, she has many different names. A lot of them she doesn’t use anymore. Just as many she does. I call her Nat, but you might know her better as the Black Widow.”

The man’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

The front door shut, and Bucky smiled again at the footsteps he recognized. “Took you longer’n I thought,” he called.

“Yeah, got held up by some old friends.” He smirked as he appeared in the doorway, only raising an eyebrow at the scene.

“Nat’s dropping her off with Clint then coming to help me deal with him. What’s the deal with your guy?”

Steve grinned and tapped his phone. “JARVIS took care of him. Last I knew, he was being carted away by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Bucky chuckled. “Can you believe he tried to use the words on me? In English.”

Steve burst out laughing, and the man looked between them confusedly. “What is the big deal about me using the words in English?”

“They only worked in Russian, dumbass. How did you not know that? Your accent tells me you’re from Russia. I know you could’ve pronounced them correctly.”

“And hey,” Steve butted in. “What’s the deal with the sniper rifle out on the roof? Isn’t that overkill?”

The man sighed like he was speaking to idiots. “It was only a sedative. In case he did not come quietly.”

Bucky snickered. “Glad to see your backup came through.”

A few minutes later, Natasha came in and leaned on the door, arms folded. “Hey, boys. Got a present for me?”

Bucky flicked the safety on and grinned at the redhead. “He’s all yours. Thanks for earlier.”

“Not a problem,” she said. “I saw the bag in the kitchen. Is it too much to hope for another girl?”

Bucky grinned, “It’s too early to tell in any case. Those’re unopened so far. Could be negative.”

She just scoffed at him. “Not with those symptoms, they won’t be. What’re you hoping?”

Bucky shrugged, “I don’t care either way at this point. How about this, you take care of him, and I’ll deal with the bag in the kitchen.”

“Deal.” She smiled at him, then looked to the man and motioned with her head. “C’mon, let’s go. And please, make it difficult for me.” She gave him a smile that almost scared Bucky. “I like a challenge.”

The man sighed as he stood, but trudged out in front of her. “What is in the bag?”

“None of your business. Keep it moving.”

Bucky sighed as Steve came to hug him. “You doin’ okay?”

“As can be expected,” Bucky replied mildly. He frowned. “He interrupted my nap.”

Steve chuckled and kissed the top of his head. “I’m sorry, baby. What about you take your nap, uninterrupted this time, and you can take the tests after?”

“Only if you nap with me.”

“Of course I will.” Another kiss to the top of his head. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

Twenty minutes after he’d walked into the bathroom the first time, Bucky emerged and stared at Steve. “Well?”

A smile began to grow. “We’re gonna be dads again.”


	6. Tell-Tale Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so the title makes no sense because as we all know I can’t title.... but basically this is everyone (and by “everyone,” I mean Natasha, Tony, Clint, Sam, and Fury) finding out about Bucky’s pregnancy with Kobik. Timelines don’t exist, apparently. Hope y’all like it!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is literally SO short BUT I like it and now it’s up!!! I’m exhausted because sleep schedules don’t exist during quarantine. Hope y’all are staying safe!
> 
> ...ok enough rambling. Enjoy!!

Bruce wasn’t difficult. But then again, Bruce was the one who told Bucky, so of course he wouldn’t have been difficult. He congratulated Steve and Bucky, obviously, and reminded Bucky of his new restrictions, dietary and otherwise, telling him, “Your body can take a lot, but we don’t know what the baby can take. So just to be safe, you’re on the same diet as pregnant women.”

“Sounds good,” Bucky had promised him.

After napping on-and-off for what felt like a week but was really two days, Bucky decided to get up. “C’mon. We’re telling them.”

“Telling them?” Steve asked, thoroughly confused.

“Telling the rest of the team. About me. Us. Being pregnant.”

Steve smirked. “Wanna save Tony for his own day?”

Bucky groaned. “Don’t remind me. Now let’s go before I change my mind.”

Steve just smiled at him. “Are you maybe forgetting something? Like pants?”

Bucky grumbled the whole way to the closet, yanking out his comfiest pair of sweatpants.

Steve just chuckled and caught him around the waist once he’d gotten the pants on. “Hey.” He waited until Bucky was looking at him. “I love you and I’m so happy.”

Bucky melted. “I love you too. And I’m happy, too. I’m really excited.”

Steve nodded and kissed him lightly before pulling away. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Bucky nodded. “You’re driving.”

“I expect nothing less when you conk out during _Die Hard_.”

“Fuck off,” Bucky muttered, shoving him. “Get in the car.”

“Sir yes sir,” Steve snarked, saluting him as he walked to the car.

* * *

Natasha was first, because Natasha is always first. “You’re pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“Because-”

“Yup.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

She started to grin. “Are you excited?”

Bucky smiled happily. “I am. It was a huge shock, obviously, because even in this crazy alien-invading world, men aren’t supposed to give birth. And yet here I am.”

She nodded. “Who else knows?”

“So far, just Bruce. He’s the one who found out, actually.”

“How’d you know?”

Bucky made a face. “I didn’t. I got morning sickness and went to Bruce to find out what it was.”

“Damn,” she said sympathetically, and he shrugged.

“Bruce gave me some meds that usually work, so it’s not too bad. Of course, it’s only been two days, so...”

“Wait, you found out two days ago? What’ve you been doing?”

“Sleeping.” He grinned sheepishly at her. “I’m tired pretty much twenty-four-seven.”

“I bet,” she sympathized. “Mind if I tag along to tell the rest?”

“Sure,” Bucky shrugged.

“Clint’s probably gonna be next, because I know Tony’s gonna freak about being last.” He and Natasha shared a smile that truly scared Steve.

“They’re both at the Tower. I think Sam’s there, too. Last I heard, he and Clint were training.”

Bucky grinned and nodded. “Them first.”

* * *

“I’m pregnant.”

Both men stopped what they were doing. “Come again?” Clint asked, fiddling with his hearing aid.

“Your aid’s fine,” Sam told him, smacking his hand away. “You heard right.”

“You’re pregnant,” Clint confirmed, and Bucky nodded.

“How in the hell-”

“Hydra.”

“Damn.”

Bucky chuckled. “That’s about what Nat said.” She grinned and waved at the men currently in shock.

“You’re pregnant,” Sam checked, and Bucky nodded.

“That’s what Bruce said.”

Sam blinked. “Well, damn. Good for you, then.”

“Thanks,” Bucky chuckled. “We’re about to go tell Tony. Wanna come with?”

“I’ll skip,” Sam shrugged. “We’re still training.”

“He can’t train without someone to train with,” Clint said apologetically. “I’ll see you later.”

* * *

They headed down to the lab, entering as soon as Jarvis shut the music off. “Hey, J, what gives?” Tony complained, frowning up at the ceiling. The movement caught his eye, and he looked over at the group. “Oh, hey, what’s up?”

“A couple things,” Bucky chuckled. “Mainly, I’m pregnant.” He stared back at Tony, and his smile began to grow.

“You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not.”

“Damn.”

“Yup.”

“How?”

“Hydra.”

“Oh. Damn. Again.”

“Yup.”

“Need anything? New Momma Bucky arm? Convertible crib? Formula? Diapers? I don’t know what babies need. What else do they need?”

Bucky chuckled. “I think we’re good, but we’ll let you know if we think of anything.”

Tony nodded. “Okay, cool. Hey, think I could be _Zio_?”

“I don’t see why not,” Bucky shrugged.

“Ooh, I’ll be Auntie Nat.”

Tony grinned and pulled up the audio comms for the gym. “Hey birds! Come over here and tell us what the baby’s gonna call you.”

“Uncle Clint!” Clint called, ducking a punch and overbalancing, falling backwards.

“Uncle Sam.”

“Uncle Sammie.”

“Sam.”

“Sammie.”

“Barnes I will end you.”

“Sammie.”

“Dammit Steve, I’ll end you too.”

They chuckled as Tony swiped the screen away. “Bruce is probably just gonna be Uncle Bruce, huh?”

“Probably,” Bucky nodded. “And I should probably tell Fury, too, shouldn’t I?”

Steve hummed and twined their fingers together. “It doesn’t have to be today.”

“Today,” Bucky decided. “Then tomorrow I’m not getting out of bed for anything.”

Steve chuckled. “Deal.” He waved to Tony and Natasha. “See you later.”

“Bye boys, have fun!”

“Good luck surviving Fury!” Tony added as the lab doors slid shut.

* * *

“There’s been a... recent development,” Bucky said, shifting in his seat. “I... well. You know there were some surgeries, when I was under Hydra’s control.”

“I am aware, yes. Is this going anywhere quickly?”

“I’m getting there,” Bucky promised. “I didn’t know this was a possibility until two days ago when it became a reality.”

“And that reality is?”

Bucky glanced at Steve before looking back at Fury. “I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant.”

“Yes.”

Fury leaned back and regarded him, then sighed. “This is gonna be so much paperwork.” He motioned for them to leave. “Barnes?” He said just before Bucky left.

“Sir?”

“Congratulations.”

Bucky grinned. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

Fury nodded, and he slipped out, joining Steve in the hallway. He slipped their hands together again.

“Home?” Steve asked, and Bucky sighed.

“God, yes please.” He groaned and gently tipped over onto Steve. “I’m not doing a single thing tomorrow.”

“That’s alright,” Steve promised. “Till the end of the line is further than any of that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: _Zio_ is Italian for Uncle.


	7. Grow with Grace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first: name change! I was its_me_smol_steve. Same person, same content, different name because this one fits me better. There might be a post in my “Let’s Be Real” series later about it.
> 
> Ok so title is from one of Taylor Swift’s new songs, “my tears ricochet” (go with grace) and from Ben Platt’s song “Grow As we Go”.
> 
> Basically this is 4K of me writing my feelings? Idk. It’s been a weird time for me but not entirely bad. No editing has been done (as is par for the course with all my other works), but I like it.
> 
> Some quick housekeeping, because I know I’ll forget by the time I get around to posting the next chapter: Clint and Laura are siblings-in-law. Barney isn’t a dick in my ‘verse (not that we ever see him or Laura), and he and Laura married and had three kids. Or is it four now, with Nathaniel Pietro? I’ve lost count. Time to rewatch the movies! 😂 
> 
> Anyways. Basically Clint has no secret family. He does have a thing for Natasha though, which is reciprocated. We’ll see if that ever goes anywhere.
> 
> And now: on to the story!

“Sam,” he shouted into his comms, “you’ve got incoming!” He grunted involuntarily as he bounced off the door he was supposed to smash through. He muttered a curse and glanced at the agents behind him. They didn’t have any guns, thanks to Tony, but they didn’t need their guns to be dangerous. They knew—he knew they knew—they had more people than he could overpower. “Nat, position?”

“Too far,” she shot back, cursing in Russian. Steve was impressed at her choice of words.

“I’ve got thirty-five on my tail and I’m at a dead end, who’s open?”

“I’m on my way as soon as Point Break is finished playing with his new friends,” Tony said, and Steve heard Thor scoff.

“Good. Got an explosive for the reinforced door, too?”

“Pal,” Tony chuckled, “I’ve got more than one.”

“Perfect. I’ll try and fight them off till you get here, but hurry.”

Jarvis dinged in his comms, signifying a private channel. “Captain, incoming call from Mr. Barnes-Rogers.”

Steve couldn’t help the swell of his heart at the name. “Patch him through, J.”

“Hey, babe,” Bucky said, and Steve wanted, so badly, to stop everything, just pause life and talk to Bucky.

“Hey. Kinda busy.”

“I know, I’m so sorry. Kobik was inconsolable. She seems fine now,” he added, and Steve knew he was pretend-glaring at their daughter.

“Hi, Papa!”

“Hey, sweetheart,” Steve said. “Papa loves you and he’ll be home soon, but he has to work right now, okay? Can you be a good big girl for Daddy?”

“Okay!” Kobik agreed. “Can I have gummy bears?”

Bucky chuckled. “Maybe later, sweet pea. Go pick out some pajamas, okay?”

“Okay!” Steve heard her hop off the couch and bound off to her room.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no, it’s fine.” He grunted as he ducked a fist. “You know I love hearing from you two. How’s Ian doing?”

“Sitting right on my bladder,” Bucky grumbled, then sighed. “Other than that, fine. Everything looks normal. It’s still hard to believe there’s only four months until Kobik’s officially a big sister.”

Steve chuckled and smashed somebody’s face with his shield. They went down like a bag of rocks. “I think she’ll count that as the nine-month point of her being a big sister, honestly.”

“Probably,” Bucky agreed. “I’ll let you get back to work. Maybe next time wake her up to tell her bye?”

“Can do,” Steve affirmed. “Bye- oh, fuck.”

“Steve?”

“I can’t- I’ve gotta- shit!” Something hit him right in the face, and this time he was the one going down like a lead balloon.

“Steve? Steve!”

His last thought was he hoped Bucky and their kids would be safe where they were.

* * *

A monotonous beeping roused him from his sleep. He moved his arm to shut the alarm off, then gasped in pain when he tried to move.

His eyes shot open, and he blinked a couple times to adjust to the light. He recognized the medical wing of the Tower easily enough, and what he’d thought was an alarm ended up being a heart monitor.

He managed to turn his head and look to either side of him. The left side was the door, and the right side held an empty chair and a takeout cup on an otherwise empty table. Del Taco. Definitely Natasha.

The door opened, and he slowly looked over, smiling at the redhead. “Hi.”

“Don’t _hi_ me, you asshole,” she shot back, then leaned over to gingerly place a kiss on his forehead. “Your husband’s been worried sick.”

A rush of worry, homesickness, and fondness surged through him. “He’s okay? Kobik’s okay?”

“They’re both fine, physically. Kobik keeps asking for her daddy, and I’m not sure how much longer Bucky’s gonna be able to hold it together.”

Steve made a pained sound in the back of his throat. “They’re troopers,” she reassured him. “They’ll make it through this. I’m gonna send Bucky in, but I’ll keep Kobik until you’re both sure you’re okay with her seeing you like this.”

“Thanks, Nat,” he whispered.

“You’re my friend, Steve. You’re an idiot, but you’re my friend. My family, even.” They shared a smile, then she swept out of the room, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she went.

A minute later, Bucky walked in, worry etched on his face. “Hi, baby,” Steve murmured, smiling at his husband. “Sorry to worry you.” He coughed, his throat dry, and Bucky hurried over and grabbed the water for him. “Mm, thank you.”

“I was worried sick,” Bucky hissed, and now that he was closer Steve could see the sheen of tears over his eyes.

“Buck,” Steve said helplessly, wanting to reach out.

He sat heavily in the chair and sighed, clasping his hands together and staring into the middle distance, right through Steve’s thigh. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Steve.”

“Bucky,” he tried again, twitching his fingers. Bucky glanced at them, gently intertwined their fingers, then looked up at Steve, blanching when he saw the blond’s expression.

“Shit, no, baby, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.” He leaned over to kiss Steve’s temple. “I love you. I can’t bear seeing you hurt.”

Steve gave him a wry smile. “I don’t like you seeing me hurt.”

“Why do you do it?” Bucky asked quietly. “I know why, but— _why?_ ”

Steve sighed. “I’ll let you know when I find out. It’s something I need to do, Buck.”

Bucky sighed too. “I know. I’m sorry. I just hate seeing you hurt. I really hate it.” He gave Steve another teary-eyed smile and carded his fingers through the blond’s hair.

“I’ll take a break,” Steve murmured his promise, eyes slipping shut. “When Ian’s born. One month, two, ten years... however long you need.”

“Baby,” Bucky whispered brokenly, and Steve, eyes still shut, smiled.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Always.”

* * *

A day later Steve was discharged, under strict instructions to accept as much help as his pride would allow. He laughed at Bruce’s wording, thanked him, and hobbled out, leaning onto Bucky.

“Steve,” Bruce sighed, and Steve looked back to see Bruce holding a crutch.

“Oh!” He chuckled. “Right, thanks.” He tucked it under his right arm and continued to hobble off, Bucky’s hand protectively on his lower back.

“I’m driving,” Bucky murmured. “And we should probably talk about Kobik.”

“What about Kobik? Is everything okay?”

“Somewhat,” Bucky nodded. “Nat’s got her now, she’s gonna watch her until you’re more self-sufficient. Or until we decide we’re okay with her seeing you like this. Though Nat cursed at me in Russian when she mentioned it, so I’d say let’s maybe not have her bring Kobik home immediately.”

Steve just looked at him, playing with his fingers. “That bad?”

Bucky blinked at him. “What?”

“You’re not giving me a definite answer. You do that when you’re upset.”

Bucky blinked again. “Oh.”

Steve gave him the barest hint of a smile. “Yeah. I’m sorry. Again. I’d say I’ll be more careful, but...”

“That’ll last all of five minutes,” Bucky nodded, shutting Steve’s door and walking around the front of the car to open his own. “I know. And I know you need to. I just wish it didn’t end like this.”

“It doesn’t always,” Steve offered.

“Just when you’re not enough. I know.”

“Can we figure something out? I hate being the cause of this. I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already apologized,” Bucky reminded him, kissing the back of his hand. “We’ll think of something, baby. For now, you be thinking about what you want for lunch.”

Steve groaned and leaned back into the seat. “Anything that isn’t hospital food.”

Bucky chuckled. “Can do.”

The ride was silent for a few moments. “So are we gonna tell Kobik?”

Bucky sighed. “Do we have much of a choice? She’s gonna learn eventually, and I don’t want to think about the emotional damage it could do if we tell her when she can actually understand.”

“You say that like she’s three.”

“You say that like she hasn’t outsmarted all of us—including Nat—at one point or another when she _was_ three.”

“...Touché.”

“So?”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. I don’t like telling her, but I don’t want to keep it a secret, either.”

“Exactly,” Bucky nodded. “And c’mon, you know her. She won’t let you get out of bed for a week.” A grin began to grow on his face.

Steve groaned. “No. You’re not allowed to turn our daughter against me. I’m pretty sure that goes against the Geneva Convention.”

“Okay, babe,” Bucky murmured, switching lanes.

Steve sighed. “You’re not listening.”

Bucky shrugged, a small smile playing on his face. “I somewhat am.”

Steve just stared at him, a small smile growing on his face. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He intertwined their fingers without looking. “Thank you for offering to take a break.”

Steve shrugged as much as he could. “It’s the least I can do.”

“Nah, the least you could do is not change at all,” Bucky grinned.

Steve snorted. “Jerk.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” he griped. “As long as you know you’re still a punk.”

“Your punk.”

“Damn right.”

A content silence filled the car as they finished the drive home. Bucky called Natasha as they were walking in and relayed what they’d decided, and she agreed to bring their daughter back in a few hours, after they’d gotten Steve settled.

Steve, for his part, hobbled over to the couch and laid down, sighing as he was finally able to stop moving. “D’we have any of the pain meds?”

Bucky hummed. “I think there’s some in the cabinet. I can go check.” He ran his hand through Steve’s hair. “Hey.”

Blue eyes opened. “Hi.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” He moved his hand down to Steve’s cheek, and Steve tilted his head to kiss the palm, eyes still locked with Bucky’s.

“Me too.”

Bucky smiled before moving off into the apartment, looking for things for Steve. He came back with a pill bottle, a water bottle, a blanket, and a pillow. “Sit up for a second, babe.” He situated everything around Steve. “Nat texted and said she’s on her way. How’re we gonna do this?”

Steve hummed. “We’ll figure something out. Those pills are gonna knock me out, though, so I won’t take them until after Kobik’s here.”

“Whatever you want. Did you decide on lunch?”

Steve hummed again. “Whatever you and Kobik want. I probably won’t eat much.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it.” He sat next to Steve’s head, carding his fingers in gold strands. “And you know Kobik’s gonna want dino nuggets and mac-n-cheese.”

Steve chuckled. “Probably. Did Nat not feed her?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t think to ask. I can when she gets here.”

Steve hummed. “D’we have anything for salad?”

Bucky thought for a second. “We should. We’ve always got lettuce and carrots, and I bought those cherry tomatoes the other day too, remember?”

Steve hummed, eyes slipping shut again. “Yeah. What’d you buy them for in the first place?”

“Steak, but I can get more next time I’m at the store. It’s fine.” Steve just hummed again.

Bucky sighed and ran a hand through blond hair. “Take the meds and go to sleep, babe, your body needs to heal itself.”

“But Kobik-”

“Will be here when you wake up,” Bucky answered promptly. He cupped Steve’s face in his hands. “Please, Steve? You can stay here if you want to. Just feel better.”

Steve blinked up at him for a moment before slowly reaching to grab one of Bucky’s hand, keeping it still as he turned his head to kiss the palm. “M’kay. Love you, Buck. So much.”

Bucky chuckled softly. “Love you too, you dork.”

* * *

“Daddy!” Kobik squealed, running straight to Bucky once she got inside.

“Hi, sweet girl,” he chuckled, picking her up and settling her on a hip. He smiled at Natasha as she walked in.

“What’s wrong with Papa?” Kobik asked, staring at him on the couch.

“Papa’s not feeling too good. He took some medicine that makes him feel better, but it also makes him really sleepy.”

Kobik frowned. “Does sleeping make him feel better?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

“Oh.” She stared quietly for a minute. “Then we gotta be quiet so Papa can sleep and feel better.”

“Exactly,” Bucky nodded. “Did you have lunch while you were out with Auntie Nat?”

Kobik grinned triumphantly as Natasha grinned sheepishly. “I had ice cream!”

Bucky pretend-glared at Natasha, who shrugged and said in Russian, “Her father’s basically comatose.”

Bucky shrugged and motioned her to follow her into the kitchen. He poked Kobik’s stomach, eliciting a giggle. “What do you want for lunch?”

“Dino nuggets!” She cheered, them just as suddenly she clapped her hands over her mouth. “Dino nuggets,” she whispered, glancing over at the living room.

Bucky chuckled. “I’m not surprised in the least. Are you in the mood for dino nuggets, Nat?” He asked, grinning at the redhead as he grabbed the bag from the freezer.

“Always,” she agreed, grabbing the bag from him and pouring them onto a tray she’d grabbed. “Set the oven?”

“Already done.” He turned to Kobik. “Can you do something for me?”

Her eyes were saucers. “What?”

“I need you to go into the living room, really quietly, and check on Papa.”

“Okay!” She agreed happily, wiggling down from Bucky’s hold.

He set her down and watched as she rushed out of the kitchen, stopping on the threshold of the living room to tiptoe into it.

Natasha, also watching Kobik, chuckled. “You’ve got a good kid.”

Bucky just smiled happily as he set the timer. “I still don’t know what I did to deserve this life, but I’m happy I have it.”

Natasha cocked her head again. “Do you have to do something special in order to have a normal life? Because that’s what this is, you know. Besides the fact that your kids are biologically yours.”

Bucky chuckled. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it is normal, isn’t it?”

“Domestic,” she agreed, nodding, and just then Kobik came back in.

“Papa woke up then went back to sleep.”

Bucky chuckled. “Just wait until he starts smelling the food.” He picked Kobik up again and settled her on his hip. “How was your time with Auntie Nat? Besides the ice cream,” he added, with a side glare at the redhead, who snickered.

“It was fun! We went to the park and we saw, like, ten _thousand_ dogs! They were all doing tricks!”

 _Obedience training,_ Natasha mouthed.

“Oh, really? That sounds fun.”

“Yeah! And then we went to the pond and fed bread to ducks!” She started to laugh. “They looked funny going upside down.”

“I bet. What else did you do?”

“We saw Uncle Clint and Lucky! They were on a walk in the park. I found a big stick, like this big!” She held out her hands, arms stretched out as wide as they could go. “I tried to throw it for Lucky, but I couldn’t throw it very far, so Uncle Clint threw it. But then Lucky brought it back to me, not Uncle Clint!” She laughed, and Bucky chuckled.

“Of course that would happen to him.”

Natasha laughed. “It gets worse. Lucky would run right past him, hitting his shins with the stick every time. He’s as purple as his hearing aids by now.”

Bucky snickered. “The poor guy. Probably deserves it, though.” He and Nat shared a smile, then he turned back to Kobik. “Can you get your crayons and paper and draw me a picture of how funny the ducks looked upside down? You can do it in the living room so you can keep an eye on Papa too.”

“Okay!” She agreed, running to her room to grab the supplies.

“Thanks for watching her,” Bucky murmured to the redhead. “We really appreciate it.”

Natasha just smiled. “You know what was drilled into us in the Red Room. Family wasn’t something we’d ever have. But now there’s this amazing little girl who calls me Auntie Nat, and there are days I still can’t believe that it’s all by choice. You choose to associate with me, you choose to let me near your child, you choose to let me be responsible for her.” She shook her head and hopped up onto the counter. “Getting into the Avengers... I thought that was my penance. I thought I was getting red out of my ledger. I was, but I didn’t realize it was all a means to an end.” She held her hands out for him, and when he stepped closer, she wrapped them around the back of his neck and kissed his forehead. “You gave me something I thought I could never have,” she whispered. “So thank you. I’d watch Kobik every day, all day if you wanted me to. You don’t need to thank me for giving me something I need.”

Bucky smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Steve offered to take some time off once Ian was born. There’s nothing set in stone, We’ve barely talked about it, and I feel selfish for wanting it, but I do want it.”

Natasha shrugged. “I’m not your therapist, but I’d say go for it. You’ve both more than served your sentence. You deserve some time off.” A familiar gleam popped in her eye. “I bet Stark would help if you asked.”

“That’s why I don’t ask,” he joked. “You mean security-wise or vacation-wise?”

“Either, but I was thinking vacation. He knows all the best spots, he’s got more than one private jet... and besides that, he likes you guys. And no one can resist Kobik when she pouts.”

Bucky laughed. “Is that how she got you with the ice cream earlier?” He teased.

“Who ever gave you the idea that I’m not the fun aunt? Because I totally am. I’m the fun, cool aunt who gives her nieces and nephews ice cream before lunch. This is the price you pay for letting me watch her.”

Bucky chuckled. “As long as she gets lunch at some point during the day.”

She moved her hands down to his stomach, cupping the bulge. “How’s Ian doing?”

“Sitting right on my bladder and digging his elbow right into my spleen.” Bucky grinned.

Natasha studied him for a moment, then broke out in a matching smile. “You love it.”

“I really do,” he said, with almost a disbelieving laugh.

“Papa!” Came from the living room, and a second later Steve was laughing through a groan. Bucky winced.

“She jumped on him, didn’t she?”

“Probably,” Natasha agreed. She slid off the counter and led him to the living room, laughing when she saw Kobik starfished on top of Steve.

“Hi,” he grinned. “Thanks for watching her.”

“My pleasure.”

Bucky just sighed at them. “I know she doesn’t weigh nothing, Steve, and we decided we’d tell her, right?”

“The only thing she’s on is my ribs.”

Bucky wiped a hand down his face and sighed. “You mean the ribs you broke four of? Those ribs?”

Steve managed a shrug. “They’re sprained at most by now.”

Bucky sat next to him. “That doesn’t matter, Steve. Next time could be worse and she’ll be bigger. I don’t want her hurting you. We’ll be nice about it, and she doesn’t have to get up this time, but she’s gotta know.”

Steve sighed, “I know. I’m sorry. Hey, baby girl, let me sit up for a second, okay?” He said to Kobik, who sat up, looked at him, then slid off and stood by the couch, watching him.

With Bucky’s help, Steve was able to sit without showing pain on his face. He sighed and smiled at his little girl. “Hi, Kobie.”

“Can I sit on your lap now?”

Steve chuckled. “Carefully, yes.”

Kobik frowned as she clambered up. “But you slept! You’re okay now!”

“I’m more okay than I was before, but I’m still not all the way better. You know how when you fall down on your bike and you scrape your knee, and you get scabs?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I’ve got a lot of scabs on the inside right now, and I have to wait until those go away. But then I’ll be better.”

“How do you know when they’re gone if you can’t see them?”

“I can feel them.” He grabbed her hand and guided it to his ribs. “There’s one right here,” his bicep, “right here,” his cheek, “and right here.”

“Oh,” Kobik said, suddenly looking unsure. “Do you have to sleep for a long time to feel better?”

“Sleeping helps, but that’s not all of it. I can’t sleep forever. But you know what else helps?”

“What?”

He grinned mischievously. “Dino nuggets.”

Kobik gaped. “We’re making those right now!”

Steve gasped. “You are? That’s perfect!”

“Kobik,” Bucky said. “Papa loves it when you’re excited to see him, but it hurts when he’s got scabs and you jump on him.”

“Oh,” Kobik said softly. “I’m sorry, Papa.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart, you didn’t know. But you can’t do it next time, okay? Not until I say you can.”

“M’kay,” she nodded, leaning against him. “Daddy, how long till dino nuggets?”

Bucky chuckled. “I’m not sure. I’ll go check on them, ‘kay?”

“Okay! Papa, guess what Auntie Nat and I did today!”

Bucky chuckled as he nudged Natasha towards the kitchen with him. “Grab the cherry tomatoes for me?” He pointed at the counter as he went to the fridge. “They need to be washed.”

She glanced at the things he grabbed. “Salad?”

“Yeah, Steve asked for it earlier.”

She sighed as she washed them, then grabbed the carrots and did the same. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” He nudged her out of the way to wash the lettuce.

“You two, you and Steve, you’re always so in sync. And you always seem so happy with each other. Don’t you ever get mad at each other?”

“Sure,” Bucky shrugged. “I hate when he gets hurt because he thinks he can take on more than he can. I hate when he leaves his towel on the floor of the bathroom. I hate when he gets quiet and won’t give me a straight answer about how he’s feeling. But I’d never hate him for any of those things. We talk when we’re upset with each other and if we don’t find a compromise, at least we understand why we did what we did. It’s work, but it works.”

Natasha chuckled. “You sound like a relationship advice book.”

Bucky laughed, “We also read a few of those. I talked to my therapist, Steve talked to Sam, and we talked to each other. There are things that he does that will always drive me crazy, just like there are things that I do that will always drive him crazy. But we love each other regardless.”

“You know I used to think love was for children.”

“You fell in love with me, _Natashenka._ ”

“I fell in love with the _idea_ of you,” she corrected. “Even then I knew it wouldn’t last. But this... this makes me rethink everything I thought I ever knew. Because I can see how real this is for both of you. How lasting it is. And it makes me think maybe there’s someone for me.”

Bucky grinned at her. “Are you talking about Clint or that cute barista at the Starbucks you always go to?”

She threw a cherry tomato at him.

Just then the timer went off, and Bucky pulled the tray out of the oven. He began to laugh. “This is one of those things he hates, actually. He doesn’t like me grabbing things from the oven with my left hand without a glove on. But it can’t feel pain or heat, so it makes sense. I think it’s mostly left over from when I hated the arm. But it’s not so bad, y’know?” He shrugged as he started picking nuggets off the tray and putting them on plates. “We’ve talked about it, but you know how stubborn he is.”

“I hate it because it looks weird,” Steve said, mock-glaring at him as he came in, holding Kobik’s hand.

“You’re supposed to be on the couch,” Bucky returned, but leaned in for the kiss. “Go sit down, it’s almost ready.”

Steve just grinned and walked to the fridge. “You always forget the ketchup.”

“I don’t forget it, I purposely don’t get it. You have no taste buds. It’s gross.”

“It is not!”

“Is. Go sit down.”

Natasha frowned slightly. “Ketchup on nuggets is gross?”

“No, ketchup on nuggets on _salad_ is gross.”

“Oh.” She made a face, then thought about it. “I mean, ketchup is tomatoes. It’s not like there’s not already tomatoes in here.”

“That’s his exact argument. I’m not falling for it. I’ll take the Caesar dressing, thank you very much.” He looked in the fridge. “We have ranch too, if you want it.”

“Ooh,” she said, looking over his shoulder. “Yes.”

“Steve, make sure Kobik gets some salad too!” He called as he closed the fridge.

“Mother hen!” Steve called back, and Bucky snorted.

“Like he isn’t just as bad. Water, apple juice, or grape juice?”

“Grape. What do they want?”

“Kobik wants apple, but since _someone_ already gave her sugar, she gets water.” He mock-glared at Natasha. “Steve wants grape, too, if you want to pour him some.”

She stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation for the sugar comment, but did as he asked. “You seem happy.”

He paused for a moment. “I am. Obviously I wished Steve hadn’t gotten hurt, but I’m happy. I never thought I’d get a family. And I never imagined I’d have a little sister again,” he teased, hip-bumping her.

“The older brother I never wanted,” she shot back, laughing. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, like I said. 4K of me writing my feelings, Aka 4K of crack. But it’s cute, fluffy crack, so that’s okay, right? Next chapter is gonna be the baby shower (don’t hate me but I’ve never been to one and don’t know how they work so I’m basically completely making it up), but I don’t know when I’ll update.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!
> 
> Update on 9.10.20 — soooo I completely forgot that Steve was Papa and Bucky was Daddy... oops 😁 but I got it fixed now!


	8. Introducing Ian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kobik is about to have a baby brother, and she could not be more excited. Enter Auntie Nat hosting a baby shower!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I know typically baby showers are done for the first child only, but they can be done for every child and they Didn’t have a baby shower for Kobik, so. Baby shower.
> 
> The name Plus One came from the idea that Steve and Bucky together were already a family; they were just adding one more person into that dynamic. I might have to change the name to Plus Two now! 😉

“Nat,” Bucky said, smiling at Steve, standing in front of him.

“Results?” She asked, then pulled the phone away from her ear to call to Kobik.

“Yeah.”

“Positive?”

Bucky shared a giddy look with Steve, who reached out and grabbed his free hand. “Yeah.”

Natasha was quiet for a few minutes. “Can I throw you a baby shower?”

Bucky gave a startled laugh. “I guess?”

“Good. Kobik and I are coming home. And don’t worry, I won’t tell her anything.”

“Won’t tell me anything what?” Bucky heard over the line, and he chuckled.

“Thanks, Nat. You can go ahead and tell the rest of the team if you want.”

“Well, obviously,” she snorted. “I’ve gotta invite them all to the shower.”

“You know we don’t actually need anything, right? Please tell Tony we don’t need anything.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t go overboard,” she assured him. “See you in a bit.”

“See you.” He slipped his phone into his pocket and stepped into Steve’s waiting arms with a smile. “Love you.”

“Love you too. Always.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Bucky’s head. “How’re we gonna tell Kobik?”

“We’ll figure something out,” Bucky shrugged. “She’s a smart girl. She’ll be fine.”

Steve hummed. “She takes after her daddy.”

“That was awful,” Bucky laughed. “You’re lucky I love you.”

Steve hummed and pushed him back to kiss his forehead. “That’s what I think every morning.”

“Sap,” Bucky returned, but couldn’t hide the blush. He leaned up to kiss Steve, then pulled away with a little sigh when the door opened. He turned to look and grinned at the sight. “My two favorite girls,” he teased, blocking a teasing arm punch from Nat. He scooped Kobik up and settled her on his hip, pressing a kiss into her hair. “Thanks, Nat. I owe you one.”

“You’ve owed me one since we met,” she countered, capturing the back of his neck with her hand and tilting his head down to kiss his forehead. “Go easy on yourself.”

“I‘ve _been_ going easy on myself.”

She grinned. “I know. Keep doing it.” With that, she let herself out.

“What would Auntie Nat not tell me, Daddy?” Kobik asked, bouncing in Bucky’s arm.

He chuckled and moved off to the couch, grabbing Steve’s hand and dragging him over as he passed. “Do you remember the story of how we got you?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Magic! Mean men hurt you, but magic fixed it and then you got me!”

“More or less,” Steve muttered, drawing a chuckle from Bucky.

“That’s right, sweetheart. Well, that magic is working again, and you’re gonna be a big sister.”

“Am I gonna have a brother or sister?”

Bucky blinked, not expecting that question. “We don’t know yet,” Steve supplied, dragging Kobik to sit on his lap, digging his fingers into her side and making her laugh. “We’ll have to go see Uncle Bruce. He can tell us.”

“Does Uncle Bruce make the magic?”

“No, baby,” Steve laughed. “But he does know how the magic works.”

“Oh,” she said, then grinned as she slid off Steve’s lap, grabbing his and Bucky’s hands and pulling. “C’mon! Let’s go see Uncle Bruce so he can know the magic!”

Bucky chuckled as he stood. “How about lunch first?”

“Can I have goldfish with lunch?”

“Sure. Want a sandwich?”

“Yeah!”

Bucky chuckled as he swung her up onto his shoulders, grinning when she shrieked in laughter.

Lunch was quick, and they made their way to the tower after, Kobik grinning and launching herself at the scientist. “Uncle Bruce!”

“Kobik!” He laughed and enveloped her in a hug.

“You hafta know the magic!” She said insistently. “So we can know if I’m gonna have a baby brother or sister!”

“The tests came back positive,” Bucky confirmed with a nod when Bruce looked to him.

“Congratulations,” he smiled warmly. “Kobik, do you wanna help me?”

“Can I?” Her blue eyes seemed to grow two sizes.

“Absolutely,” Bruce confirmed. “Come on, let’s go get ready for your daddy, okay?”

“Okay!” She agreed happily, skipping alongside him.

A little while later, they were all looking at the holographic screen. “Know what that means, Kobie?” Steve asked, picking her up.

“The magic made a boy! Can I play with him?”

“The magic’s _making_ a boy,” Steve corrected. “He needs to stay in Daddy’s belly for a little while longer, until the magic’s done, but then you can play with him.”

“Do you have any names picked out?” Bruce asked, cleaning the gel off of Bucky’s stomach.

“We do, actually.” Bucky shared a smile with Steve. “Ian Jericho.”

“Ian Jericho. I like it,” Bruce nodded, smiling at Bucky. “Do you have one picked out for a girl?”

“Emily Carter.”

“That’s cute, too. Let’s check up in a month or so, alright?”

“Sounds good. Thank you, Bruce.”

“Thank you, Uncle Bruce!” Kobik said, leaning off of Steve to give him a hug.

He laughed. “You’re all welcome.”

* * *

Almost two weeks later, Natasha showed up on their doorstep, forcing the three of them out for the next few hours. “Go get lunch. Go to the park. Something. I don’t care. You’re not allowed back in until I tell you.”

“This is my house,” Bucky argued, because he could. Steve just laughed and grasped his husband’s hand.

“Not right now, it’s not. Kobik, help me out here, get your dads out of the house.”

Steve sighed and mock-glared at Natasha as Kobik started pulling him away. “You’re the worst.”

She smiled sweetly and waved as she shut the door on them.

“Park?” Kobik asked, and Steve couldn’t help the laugh. “Lunch first, baby girl. Then park.”

“Or,” Bucky cut in with a grin, “we could do lunch at the park.”

Kobik’s eyes sparkled. “A picnic!”

“That’s the thing,” Bucky nodded, scooping her up in his arms and nuzzling their noses, smiling as she laughed. “Whaddya think, Kobie? Picnic in the park?”

“Yes,” she nodded, face set. “Can we get Panda?”

Steve and Bucky exchanged a look. “Can we try and all agree on something else?” Steve asked carefully, and Kobik pouted.

“No, I want Panda.”

“Dear lord,” Bucky murmured, “We’ve spoiled her.”

“Us, or all her aunts and uncles?”

“You know what, let’s blame them.” Bucky shifted Kobik to one arm and grabbed Steve’s hand, smiling at him. “Lunch?”

Steve shrugged. “I could go for Panda.”

Bucky laughed as they started walking. “That’s where she gets it from.”

“I will neither confirm nor deny-”

“Punk,” Bucky snorted, and Steve grinned at him, squeezing his hand.

“Jerk.”

* * *

“Oh my god,” Bucky muttered to himself as he walked back inside his house. Natasha had completely transformed it.

He stopped in the entryway and grabbed for Steve’s hand without looking. Steve grabbed it and squeezed slightly, a silent I’m here, and Bucky wasn’t sure he’d ever loved him more. “Natasha, what-?”

“It’s a party,” she replied, like that answered everything, and in the case of Natasha, it usually did.

“You know I don’t really know what a baby shower is or how to host one.”

“First of all, I’m appalled that you’d think I’d let you host. You’re the man of the hour which means you sit and relax. And I’ve got no idea what I’m doing, either.” She grinned at him. “But neither does anyone else, which means they can’t tell me I’m doing it wrong.”

“Except didn’t Laura have a baby shower?”

“Yeah, and that’s what I’m basing yours off of.” Another grin. “So Clint can’t tell me I’m doing it wrong, either.”

He laughed and hugged her, kissing her temple. “Thanks, Nat.”

She just grinned at him. “This is as much for me as it is for you, don’t worry. I’m having more fun than I’ve had in a while.”

“Oh, well in that case.” He grinned and stepped back. “Please, continue playing with your balloons.”

“You ass,” she muttered, but grinned at him. “Go on, get in the kitchen, I know you’re dying to taste everything.”

“It does smell amazing,” he admitted. “What’d you make?”

“Nothing.” She smiled smugly, and he stared at her for a second before bursting out laughing.

“And you called _me_ an ass. Alright, I’ll bite, what catering company did you call?”

She winked at him, and he chuckled before pulling Steve with him into the kitchen. “No canoodling, you two!” She called after them.

“It’s our house!”

“Not today, it’s not!”

“If someone was gonna take over our house, though?” Steve asked, then shrugged. “It would be Natasha.”

“God,” Bucky laughed. “And we’d welcome it, too.” He pulled the blond closer and just stared for a moment, silent. “How’d I get so lucky?”

“You?” Steve bent down for a quick kiss. “I think you mean me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You know my ma used to talk about my da, how she’d always known he was the one. I never thought I’d know how that felt. But then I met you, and then you saved me from what’s-his-face,” Steve spun them around, grinning. “And I realized I knew exactly how she felt. Twelve years old and head-over-heels for you.”

“Twelve,” Bucky murmured. “God, we were idiots. We coulda been doing this the whole time.” He leaned up for his own quick kiss. “Fourteen, for me, soon as you got turned down by that one newspaper and I had to stop you from goin’ up there and tellin’ ‘em exactly where they could shove their paper.”

Steve laughed. “I’d forgotten about that.”

“I kinda wanted to let you do it.”

“I know. I was about to drag you down there so you could watch.”

“We probably woulda spent the night in jail.”

“Probably.” They laughed together, standing a breath apart, watching each other, and Steve gasped softly when he felt Bucky’s stomach move. “Ian?”

“Kicking,” Bucky nodded. “He’s been active today.”

Steve places his hands on Bucky’s stomach and smiled wonderingly at him. “We really are the luckiest pair, huh?”

“I still don’t know how I sacked you, but I’m the luckiest devil on the planet, I’ll tell you that.” He leaned in for another short kiss. “We should probably be out there. Mingling. At least taking care of Kobik.”

Steve shrugged. “Nat’s out there. She loves Kobik.”

“Everyone loves Kobik.” He moved so his shoulders were under Steve’s arm, his own arm around the blond’s waist. “That time after the Hydra base when you were laid up? She told me she never thought she’d have a family. She loves Kobik more than we know.”

Steve sighed happily. “How’d we get so lucky?”

Bucky shrugged, grinning impishly. “I’m sure somehow it’s your fault.”

Natasha came in, grinning, her hand over her eyes. “Is it safe to look?”

“Oh my god,” Steve muttered as Bucky laughed.

“C’mon in, Nat.” He removed himself from Steve to embrace her. “Is it all ready?”

“Yeah, everyone’s here. We’re waiting for the man of the hour.” She grinned, kissed his cheek, and pushed him out into the living room, where everyone else was. They all started clapping, and after a second of looking around, Kobik joined in, too, looking at her father. Bucky grinned at her, and she giggled, beaming back. “Happy Birthday, Daddy!”

Everyone laughed as Bucky picked her up and nuzzled her neck, causing her to laugh and shy away. “Thank you, baby girl, but today’s not my birthday.”

“It’s not?” She looked vaguely concerned.

“No, baby. It’s just a party for your little brother.” He guided one of Kobik’s hands to his stomach, where Ian was kicking. “See? He’s awake and happy. He knows it’s for him.”

“Oh!” As best she could, she leaned down to his stomach. “Surprise, Ian!”

Everyone laughed again, and she turned to grin at them as Bucky put her down. “Your turn! You first, Auntie Nat!”

Natasha started to protest, but Kobik caught her hand and pulled her Bucky’s direction, and Natasha quickly gave in, offering Bucky a look that he simply grinned at.

Kobik dragged Bucky around to everyone so they had a chance to surprise her unborn brother. After they’d finished, Bucky caught her up in his arms and tickled her belly for a moment. “Thanks, baby girl.” He kissed her cheek. “Go grab some coloring things, alright?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Natasha said, catching Kobik before she could run out of the room. “This one and I have some very important things planned.”

“We do?” Kobik asked, adorably confused.

Natasha just nodded. “We do. Come on, sweet pea, help me set up.”

“Okay!” She agreed happily, skipping away with her Auntie.

Bucky chuckled and leaned back into Steve as he wrapped his arms around Bucky’s waist. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself,” Steve replied, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s cheek. “Any idea what Nat’s planning?”

“Not at all. I’m terrified.” He grinned at the blond, who grinned back.

“What, no secret Russian spy knowledge this time?”

Bucky laughed. “Unfortunately, no.”

* * *

Before long, Natasha and Kobik returned. Natasha held a rolled up poster and some pushpins, whereas Kobik held several small cardboard cutout shapes. Bucky laughed as Natasha unrolled the poster to reveal a picture of himself, heavily pregnant. “Where did you even get that picture?”

“Why James,” she grinned, Cheshire wide, “a magician never reveals her secrets.”

“Like I said,” Bucky murmured to Steve. “Scares me.”

“Right there with you, pal,” Steve murmured back, and suddenly they were both chuckling.

Kobik walked up to them and handed them each a shape. Bucky laughed at the generic baby boy picture. “Natasha, what game is this?”

“Pin the baby on the Bucky, of course!” She grinned at him. “Everyone gets blindfolded and spun around a few times. The person closest to your belly wins.”

There was lots of friendly yelling. Bruce got closest, by listening to what Tony said and doing the opposite.

Natasha brought out the cupcakes after, vanilla or chocolate cake with blue frosting, and everyone dove in. They ate in silence until suddenly Natasha clapped her hands. “Alright, present time! Who’s ready?”

“Me!” Kobik exclaimed, raising her hand as high as it could go.

Bucky chuckled and dragged her onto his lap. “I’ve got a job for you, if you want it.”

“What is it?”

He nodded to the pile of presents. “See all the presents that are wrapped?”

“Yuh-huh.”

“Could you help me unwrap them?”

Her eyes gleamed. “Yeah!”

“You need to understand though, these are presents for Ian. Things he’s gonna need.”

She looked at Bucky liked he’d called her stupid. “I know _that_!”

“Okay,” he chuckled, leaning back. “Just checking. Nat?”

She brought over the first present, from Pepper, and Kobik tore the light blue paper off, handing the box itself to Bucky and devoting herself to finding every piece of tape on the paper and carefully peeling it off.

He grinned at the diapers and clothes. “Thank you, Pepper.” She lifted her drink in a toast.

They ended up with so many presents Bucky didn’t know what to do with them all. There were enough diapers for a small army of babies, though he knew they’d use them all, a whole bunch of burp cloths, bibs, baby bottles, and everything else under the sun, as well as some more high-tech things that were definitely Tony-approved, such as the swing, the bouncer, and the crib.

Before long everyone said their farewells and congratulations and headed out the door. Bucky and Steve thanked every last one of them, then when they were alone, Bucky caught Natasha’s hand before she could leave. “Come sit with us for a second.” He led her to the couch and held both her hands in his. Steve sat behind him, and Bucky leaned back ever so slightly, nudging Steve to begin.

“Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky,” he said quietly. “And then I woke up seventy years in the future, and I didn’t have Bucky. I didn’t have anyone or anything. Then you came along. The sister I never knew I wanted. Someone to joke around with, to discover new places to eat with, but also someone to be serious with. Someone to help me when I couldn’t do it on my own.” He laid a hand over hers. “You’re my family, Nat.”

“You were my little ballerina,”

Bucky murmured, words coming out just slightly Russian. “The one person I pushed harder than anyone because I saw greatness in you, and not the way they saw it. They tried, had you for a few years, even. But they couldn’t break your spirit. And I thank God every day for that, Natalia.”

“We’re not traditional parents in any sense of the word,” Steve said. “We do what we do because it’s right. Because it feels right. We don’t ascribe to any certain religion.”

“And right now,” Bucky murmured, “this feels right. Natasha, will you be our kids’ godmother?”

She stared at them for a minute before leaning in for a hug, teary-eyed. “You bastards,” she whispered into their ears. “I love you both. Yes, I’ll be their godmother.”

Bucky kissed her cheek. “We love you too. Now go, I know you, I know what you need. We’ll see you later.”

She grinned at them and left, door shutting quietly behind her, then opening just as quickly as she winked and walked to Kobik’s room.

Bucky sighed. “Is she stealing our child again?”

“I think Kobik’s halfway her child now, too,” Steve shrugged.

In any case, Natasha walked out without Kobik, waving before walking out the front door again. Bucky leaned back into Steve and sighed contentedly, smiling at Kobik when she ran in and clambered on Steve’s lap, leaning onto Bucky. She kissed his belly before whispering something to Ian, and Bucky smiled, happy with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so admittedly I’ve never actually been to a baby shower before? So everything they did/got is what I saw online. 😂
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy! I’ve got one more planned in which Ian actually makes an appearance, but I don’t have anything planned after that, so if y’all have any prompts for me regarding this family, let me know! ❤️


End file.
